Question

List the properties of antibodies that determine their effector function. What is the advantage to switching to an IgG isotope?

I know that igG deals with neonatal immunity by placental transfer but im not sure if thats the advantage/only advantage

Answer 1

PROPERTIES OF ANTIBODIES THAT DETERMINE THEIR EFFECTOR FUNCTION:

1.The antibodies may function when it is distant from the sites of production in such a way that they perform their function throughout the body.

2.The protective antibodies are produced during the first response and they are present inin large amounts during subsequent to response.

3.The antibodies use the antigen binding region to bind and to block all the harmful effect of microbes and toxins while their F _c  region is used to activate diverse mechanism which eliminate these antigens and toxins.

4.Heavy chain class switching and affinity maturation also enhance the protective function of antibodies.

ADVANTAGE OF SWITCHING TO igG:

Immunoglobulin class switching is also called as isotype switching or isotypic recombination.It is a biological process which changes Bcells production of immunoglobulin from one type to another such as from isotype IgM to IgG.

1.Since variable region does not change here,class switching does not in anyway affect antigen specificity.

2.But instead of this the antibody retains affinity for the same antigen and it can interact with different EFFECTOR molecules.

IgG is an disadvantage to neonatal immunity because it supprreses vaccine induced response and it is susceptible to infection.