Immunology Lecture 02

Immunology Lecture 02
Antigens & Immunogens
youtube.com/c/RabiulHaque
Dr. Rabiul Haque
Lecturer, Department of Pathology

Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College, Dhaka
• youtube.com/c/RabiulHaque
• facebook.com/Pathology.Tutorials
• https://pathologytutorials.weebly.com
Learning Objectives
• Definitions of Antigen & Immunogen
• Features of Molecules That Determine Immunogenicity
• Haptens
• Epitopes
• How Hapten-carrier Conjugate Induces Immune Response
Definitions
Definitions
Antigens:
• An organism, a molecule or part of a molecule that is recognized by immune system.

• Ref. Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Immunology 2nd Edition
• Antigens can be defined as molecules that react with antibodies.

• Ref. Lange Review of Medical Microbiology & and Immunology 14th Edition
• Antigens may be simple, complex, protein, carbohydrate or synthetic in origin.
Definitions
Immunogens:
• Immunogens can be defined as molecules that induce

immune response.
• In most cases, antigens are immunogens but there are some

important exceptions (e.g. haptens).
Definitions
Hapten
• A hapten can be defined as a molecule that is not immunogenic by itself but can react with
specific antibody.
• It is a non-protein substance which has no immunogenic properties, but on combining with

a carrier protein can form a new antigen capable of forming antibodies.
Antibody
• An antibody is a protein substance produced as a result of antigenic stimulation.
Features of Molecules That Determine
Immunogenicity
• Foreignness • Chemical Properties
• Genetic Constitution of Host

• Molecular Size
• Dosage, Route & Timing of Antigen
• Chemical-structural Complexity
Administration
• Epitopes / Antigenic Determinants
• Adjuvants
• Conformation & Accessibility
Foreigness
• In order to be immunogenic, molecules must be recognized as
"non-self" or foreign.
• In general, our immune system is tolerant to molecules that

are recognized as self-molecules.
• "Self-molecules" are not immunogenic.
Molecular Size
• Proteins larger than 10kDa are usually more immunogenic.
• The most potent immunogens are proteins with high molecular

weight (i.e. above 100,000).
• Generally molecules with molecular weight less than 10,000 are

weakly immunogenic.
• Very small molecules (e.g. amino acid) are nonimmunogenic.
Chemical-structural Complexity
• A certain amount of chemical-structural complexity is required
to become immunogenic.
• Complex proteins with numerous and diverse epitopes are

more likely to induce immune response than simple peptides
containing only single or a few epitopes.
• Example: Amino acid homopolymers are less immunogenic

than heteropolymers containing 2 or 3 different amino acids.
Epitopes / Antigenic Determinants
• Small chemical groups on the antigen molecule that evoke and react with antibody.
• These are the smallest part of an antigen that can be "seen" by somatically generated B
and T cell receptors.
• Also known as "Antigenic Determinants".
• An antigen may have one or more epitopes. Most antigens have multiple epitopes (i.e.
multivalent).
• Different epitopes on the same antigen may be recognized by different lymphocytes, each
with a unique set of receptors.
Conformation & Accessibility
• Epitopes must be "seen by" and be accessible to the immune
system in order to induce an immune response.
Chemical Properties
• A protein immunogen must be enzymatically cleavable by
phagocytes.
• Example: L-amino acid-containing polypeptides are usually

good immunogens and D-amino acid-containing polypeptides
are poor immunogens.
Genetic Constitution of Host
• Genetic constitution of host (HLA genes) determine whether a
molecule is immunogenic.
• Example: Different strains of the same species of animal may

show different response to the same antigen.
Dosage, Route & Timing of Antigen
Administration
• Immunogenicity is also affected by these factors.
Adjuvants
• Adjuvants enhance the immune response to an immunogen.
• They are not covalently bound to immunogen.
• They can act in various ways:

• Cause slow release of antigens.
• Enhance uptake of immunogen by antigen presenting cells.
• Induce costimulatory molecules.
• Stimulate Toll-like receptors.
Hapten
• A haptens can be defined as a molecule that is not

immunogenic by itself but can react with specific antibody.
• They are usually small molecules. However some high-

molecular-weight nucleic acids are haptens too.
• Many drugs are haptens (e.g. penicillins).

How Hapten-carrier Conjugate Induces
Immune Response?

Immunology Lecture 02 - 2018

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Antigens & Immunogens

Lecturer, Department of Pathology

• Features of Molecules That Determine Immunogenicity

• How Hapten-carrier Conjugate Induces Immune Response

• An organism, a molecule or part of a molecule that is recognized by immune system.

• Antigens can be defined as molecules that react with antibodies.

• Antigens may be simple, complex, protein, carbohydrate or synthetic in origin.

• Immunogens can be defined as molecules that induce

• In most cases, antigens are immunogens but there are some

• It is a non-protein substance which has no immunogenic properties, but on combining with

• An antibody is a protein substance produced as a result of antigenic stimulation.

• Genetic Constitution of Host

• Conformation & Accessibility

• In general, our immune system is tolerant to molecules that

• "Self-molecules" are not immunogenic.

• The most potent immunogens are proteins with high molecular

• Generally molecules with molecular weight less than 10,000 are

• Very small molecules (e.g. amino acid) are nonimmunogenic.

• Complex proteins with numerous and diverse epitopes are

• Example: Amino acid homopolymers are less immunogenic

• Also known as "Antigenic Determinants".

• Example: L-amino acid-containing polypeptides are usually

• Example: Different strains of the same species of animal may

• They are not covalently bound to immunogen.

• They can act in various ways:

• A haptens can be defined as a molecule that is not

• They are usually small molecules. However some high-

• Many drugs are haptens (e.g. penicillins).

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