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antigen
[an-ti-juhn]
noun
Immunology.any substance, as a protein, carbohydrate, etc., that, on entering the body, can stimulate an immune response and combine with a specific antibody or T cell receptor having a matching molecular structure.
Pharmacology.any commercial substance, usually synthetic, that stimulates the production of antibodies when injected or absorbed into animal tissues.
antigens of a particular type collectively.
antigen
/ -ˌdʒɛn, ˈæntɪdʒən /
noun
a substance that stimulates the production of antibodies
antigen
A substance that stimulates the production of an antibody when introduced into the body. Antigens include toxins, bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances.
Compare antibody See Note at blood type
Other 51Թ Forms
- antigenic adjective
- antigenically adverb
- antigenicity noun
- ˌԳپˈԾ adjective
- ˌԳپˈԾally adverb
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of antigen1
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of antigen1
Example Sentences
The Community Health Station program was initially established to continue the distribution of COVID-19 antigen tests, also known as rapid tests, according to the public health department.
“We don’t have the ability to differentiate through quick, antigen tests at this time,” Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and author of the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist, told Salon.
One avenue for this ambition is cell receptors, which function like ignition slots on a cell, requiring keys -- such as specific hormones, drugs, or antigens -- to start up specific cellular activities.
All cancers -- particularly immune-silent, fast-growing cancers like glioblastoma -- produce signals called antigens that scientists can use in immune therapies to manually alert the immune system to the presence of incognito cancers.
The new vaccine combines the traditional pertussis antigens with an innovative adjuvant called T-vant, which boosts the body's immune response specifically in the respiratory tract.
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When To Use
An antigen is a substance that causes an immune response in the body—specifically, an antigen causes the body to produce antibodies. Antigens are things like viruses, bacteria, toxins, cancer cells, and other foreign substances, like the cells of a transplanted organ.An antibody is a protein produced by some cells as part of the immune system’s defenses. Antibodies attach to antigens and make them harmless or help the body to destroy them.Antigens are studied in fields like immunology, virology, and pharmacology. Most vaccines contain forms of antigens that trigger the body to produce specific antibodies to fight that antigen.
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