| Antigen Antibody Interactions Softcover Repri Edition Contributor(s): Delisi, C. (Author) |
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ISBN: 3540076972 ISBN-13: 9783540076971 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $52.24 Product Type: Paperback Published: June 1976 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Mathematics |
| Dewey: 510 |
| LCCN: 76015623 |
| Series: Lecture Notes in Biomathematics |
| Physical Information: 0.33" H x 6.69" W x 9.61" (0.56 lbs) 142 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 1. 1 Organization of the Immune System One of the most important survival mechanisms of vertebrates is their ability to recognize and respond to the onslaught of pathogenic microbes to which they are conti- ously exposed. The collection of host cells and molecules involved in this recognition- 12 response function constitutes its immune system. In man, it comprises about 10 cells 20 (lymphocytes) and 10 molecules (immunoglobulins). Its ontogenic development is c- strained by the requirement that it be capable of responding to an almost limitless variety of molecular configurations on foreign substances, while simultaneously remaining inert to those on self components. It has thus evolved to discriminate, with exquisite precision, between molecular patterns. The foreign substances which induce a response, called antigens, are typically large molecules such as proteins and polysaccharides. The portions of these with which immunoglobulins interact are called epitopes or determinants. A typical protein epitope may consist of a configuration formed by the spatial arrangements of four or five amino acids and have an average linear dimension of about 20 A. |