Immune response immunoglobulin molecule

So-called, B lymphocytes, which constitute about 20% of the total lymphocyte population in the blood, have only one major function which is to synthesize and secrete immunoglobulin antibodies. Following an antigenic challenge, B cells develop into plasma cells whose role is to produce specific immunoglobulin molecules in what is known as the humoral arm of the immune response. 

When certain foreign chemicals (antigens) or bacteria, covered with antigenic surface components, enter the animal body, an immune response is initiated, leading to the production of antibodies or immunoglobulins. These proteins can combine non-covalently with their antigen molecules in a specific way. The antigenicity and im-... 

The proteins at the heart of the humoral immune response are soluble proteins called antibodies or immunoglobulins, often abbreviated Ig. Immunoglobulins bind bacteria, viruses, or large molecules identified as foreign and target them for destruction. Making up 20% of blood protein, the immunoglobulins are produced by B lymphocytes, or B cells, so named because they complete their development in the feone marrow. 

Antibodies are molecules secreted by terminally differentiated B cells (a type of lymphocyte) known as plasma cells. Nearly all rabbit primary antibodies and most mouse monoclonal antibodies are immunoglobulins (Igs). There are five classes of Igs that differ structurally and functionally. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) molecules are the major class of Igs in the blood, which are predominantly produced in the secondary immune response. 

B cells recognize native or denatured forms of proteins or carbohydrates in soluble, particulate, or cell-bound form. Activated B cells differentiate into plasma cells and produce antibodies, soluble proteins known as immunoglobulins (Ig), that circulate freely and react specifically with the invoking antigen. There are several classes (called isotypes) of Ig molecules—IgM, IgG, IgA, IgE, and IgD. IgM is the predominant antibody in the primary immune response (following initial exposure to an antigen). IgG usually appears later, following a primary infection, but is the predominant antibody... 

Monoclonal antibody therapy (MAT) makes use of all the major features of the immune response. It involves vaccination/ immunization, albeit in experimental animals, to induce the desired specific immune response. It exploits the high specificity, selectivity, and affinity of the antibody CDR toward the target antigen to be recognized, highlighted, inactivated, or eliminated, using the characteristics of the Fc portion of an immunoglobulin to facilitate the means for such inactivation or elimination and for selection of appropriate effector mechanisms. Finally, MAT represents a modern form of serotherapy, in which parenteral administration of whole serum or Ig preparations has been replaced by recombinant antibody molecules of a defined specificity. 

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