Antigen

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The word antigen comes from "antibody generator" [1]. Any molecule or part of a molecule that causes an immune response by binding with an antibody or T-cell receptor is an antigen, for this reason they are important in immunisation as they can induce a highly specific adaptive immune response. This occurs because of the activation of the innate immune response which uses Antigen presenting cells (APCs) to activate T-cells [2].

References

  1. ↑ Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, Raff, Roberts and Walter (2008) Molecular Biology of The Cell, fifth edition, New York: Garland Science.
  2. ↑ Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, Raff, Roberts and Walter (2008) Molecular Biology of The Cell, fifth edition, New York: Garland Science.
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