All Correct Answers 2026/2027 Updated.
Binding affinity - Answer Strength of an individual bond
Binding avidity - Answer Combined strength of binding of the multiple interactions
Multivalency influences which binding property? - Answer increases avidity of the interactions
Dissociation constant - Answer Kd
- measure of strength of ligand binding
Ligand-receptor binding induces 4 molecular changes in the receptor - Answer 1.
Conformational
2. Dimerization / clustering
3. Location in the membrane
4. Covalent modification
Extended contact between ligands and receptors result in? - Answer - facilitates signal
transduction and exchange of cytokine signals
- may lead to cytoskeletal reorganization
3 common features of immune receptors - Answer 1. Immunoglobulin domains
2. Transmembrane, cytosolic or secreted
3. If the receptor is lacking a C-terminus transmembrane segment, it gets secreted
B-cell receptor (BCR) as an antigen receptor - Answer contains an antibody of defined
specificity
T-cell receptor (TCR) as an antigen receptor - Answer specificity is for peptides derived from
APC degraded antigen presented on MHC molecules
CD4 and CD8 as an antigen receptors - Answer T-cell co-receptors that define different subsets
of T-cell function
,Antigen specificity for antibodies is based off of? - Answer interaction between light and heavy
chain variable regions
Antibody effector activity - Answer - phagocytosis
- complement fixation
Constant vs variable regions of antibody - Answer Constant - effector activity
Variable - antigen binding
Complementary determining regions - Answer Three sites form antibody combining site
- CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3
Framework region - Answer - the relatively invariant amino acid sequences within the variable
domains
- responsible for folding of the CDRs to form ACS
Heavy chain antibody isotopes - Answer IgA (alpha)
IgD (delta)
IgE (epsilon)
IgG (gamma)
IgM (mu)
Light chain antibody isotopes - Answer Kappa
Lambda
Which antibody molecules form a B-cell receptor complex to transduce signals? - Answer - IgA
and IgB transduce signals via immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs)
- CD19, CD81 and CD21 transmit and relay signals to the cell interior via CR2
How do lipid rafts benefit receptor signaling? - Answer Receptors cluster into lipid rafts and
this allows for movement of receptors
- leads to better binding
V(D)J recombination - Answer Rearrange variable (V)
Joining (J)
, Diversity (D)
Results in novel amino acid sequences in antigen-binding regions
When is the (D)iversity applicable? - Answer Only in antibody heavy chains
Multigene organization of Ig genes - Answer Lambda light chain gene located on chromosome
22
Kappa light chain gene located on chromosome 2
Heavy chain gene located on chromosome 14
Multigene gene organization: pairings - Answer Kappa genes pair each V segment with J
segment
Lambda genes pair each J segment with a (C)onstant segment
How many possible VJDC combinations are there? - Answer Heavy: V(45) x D(23) x J(6)
Kappa: V(41) x J(5)
Lambda: V(33) x J(5)
Recombination signal sequences - Answer - flank each antibody gene segment
- allow antibody to recognize many different antigens
12/23 rule - Answer 12 bp RSS must pair with a 23 bp RSS
- one turn spacer with a two turn spacer
Recombination activating gene (RAG) - Answer RAG1/2 complex is responsible for recognizing
and cutting DNA at the immunoglobulin-encoding region and the RSS
1. RAG1 forms a complex with RSSs
2. Complex stabilized by RAG2