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1 – ANTIGENS AND PATHOGENS

ANTIGENS
What are antigens?
Antigens are unique molecules, or parts of molecules, that can be recognised by T lymphocytes or by
antibodies of B lymphocytes, and are important as they allow the body to recognise potentially
harmful pathogens and mount an immune response against them.
Do all antigens trigger an immune response?
Although many antigens trigger an immune response, some do not.
What are antigens that elicit an immune response known as?
Antigens that elicit an immune response are more properly known as immunogens (in the context of
the immune system it is still common to refer to them as antigens).
Structure of Antigens
What are antigens composed of?
Most antigens are protein-based and composed of one or more polypeptide chains. However,
antigens can also be composed of carbohydrates, lipids and even nucleic acids.
Example of antigen and what it is made up of.
The human ABO blood groups are antigens made up of complex carbohydrates.
What makes the antigens of the blood group different to each other?
It is the structure of the carbohydrates that make up one type of antigen, for example A antigen,
different to another type of antigen, for example the B antigen.

Types of Antigens
What are the two types of antigens?
The immune system is able to distinguish antigens into two categories:
 Antigens that are expressed by its own cells (self-antigens).
 Antigens that are not expressed by its own cells (non-self antigens).
Where can antigens be found?
Antigens are expressed or presented on the surface of the plasma membrane of cells, where they
act as recognition sites for the immune system. However, not all antigens are attached to a cell;
some antigens such as toxins released by bacteria circulate freely in the body fluids.
Responding to Antigens
What is antigen recognition dependent on?
Antigen recognition is dependent on the detection of antigens by receptors:
 The receptors on B lymphocytes are membrane-bound antibodies that recognise free
antigens or antigens that are on the surface of a pathogen. Antibodies can also be secreted
by the B lymphocytes.
 The receptors on T lymphocytes are different from membrane bound antibodies of B
lymphocytes and recognise antigens presented by the organisms own cells.

Are the receptors of antigens specific?

The receptors of antigens are specific and function for particular antigens.
What presents self or non-self antigens to the T lymphocytes?
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins (also called human leukocyte antigens (HLA)),
are proteins on the cell body that presents self or non-self antigens to the T lymphocytes.
What is positive selection in T lymphocyte maturation?
In the thymus, T lymphocyte undergo a maturation stage called positive selection, in which the T
lymphocyte that do not interact with the MHC proteins are destroyed by apoptosis.
What is negative selection in T lymphocyte maturation?
They then undergo a second stage of maturation, called negative selection, in which T lymphocyte
that react with self-antigens in the thymus bind tightly to the cells in the thymus and eventually die.
What is this two-stage process called?
This two-stage process of selection T lymphocytes that can recognise MHC proteins, and eliminating
T lymphocytes that reacts to the self-antigen is called clonal detection.
What is self-tolerance?
The inability to respond to self-antigens is called tolerance, or self-tolerance. If self-tolerance breaks
down and the immune system responds to self-antigens, it results in autoimmune diseases.
PATHOGENS
What are pathogens?
Pathogens are agents that cause disease. Depending on their ability to cause disease.
What are the pathogens divided into?
Pathogens are divided into two groups:
 Primary pathogens – cause disease any time they are present.
 Opportunistic pathogens – only cause disease when the host’s defences have been
weakened, for example, by poor nutrition or stress.
What are cellular pathogens?
Cellular pathogens are pathogens that has a cellular structure and exhibits the processes of a living
organism. Examples include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and parasites such as worms.
What are non-cellular pathogens?
Non-cellular pathogens are pathogens that does not have a cellular structure or exhibit the
processes of a living organism. Examples include viruses and prions.
CELLULAR PATHOGENS
Bacteria
What are bacteria?
Bacteria are prokaryotic microscopic organisms that exist almost everywhere. They are not always
pathogenic and can live symbiotically with other organisms, functioning to support the organism.
However, they are also able to act as pathogens as they present non-self antigens.
Fungi
What are fungi?
Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that include yeasts and moulds and contain long, branching filaments
called hyphae. Fungal cells produce surface glycoproteins and polysaccharides that act as antigens,
allowing them to be identified by cells of the immune system. They can cause a variety of diseases in
humans including thrush and athlete’s foot.
Oomycetes
What are oomycetes?
Oomycetes are fungus-like pathogens that mainly affect plants. They release molecules that
suppress the innate immune response and inhibit apoptosis.
Protozoans
What are protozoans?
Protozoans are unicellular, eukaryotic organisms that have multiple stages in a complete life cycle.
Many protozoans express different antigens at different stages in their life cycle. This is known as
antigenic variation and assists in evading detection by their host’s immune system.
Worms
What are worms?
Parasitic worms include flatworms (e.g. tapeworms) and roundworms (e.g. hookworms, pinworms
and threadworms). In animals, parasitic worms can regulate the immune system in a number of
ways so that the immune response against them is suppressed.
Arthropods
What are arthropods?
Arthropods are invertebrates with external skeletons (exoskeletons). Some such as dust mites, can
trigger allergies; others such as ticks, can transmit bacterial or viral pathogens when they bite.
NON-CELLULAR PATHOGENS
Viruses
What are viruses?
Viruses are an infectious agent composed of genetic material (DNA or RNA) inside a protein coat
(capsid). In some instances, the protein coat is surrounded by a lipid envelope. Viruses are not able
to independently reproduce, instead they insert their genetic material into a host’s cell and using the
cell to replicate. In a process called antigenic drift, viral antigens change as a virus evolves, which
helps the virus evade detection by the host.
Viroids
What are viroids?
Viroids are a type of self-cleaving RNA enzyme (or ribozyme). They are composed of short, circular
strands of RNA that lack a protein coat.
Prions
What are prions?
Prions are abnormally folded proteins that have the ability to induce normal proteins nearby to
become misfolded. They only occur in mammals and only affect the brain and other neural
structures. They are currently the only known infectious agents that don’t contain nucleic acids.