Consequences of Antigen-Antibody Binding
Antigen-Antibody Complex: Formed when an antibody binds to an antigen it recognizes.
Affinity: A measure of binding strength.
1. Agglutination: Antibodies cause antigens (microbes) to clump together.
IgM (decavalent) is more effective that IgG (bivalent).
Hemagglutination: Agglutination of red blood cells. Used to determine ABO blood types and to detect influenza and measles viruses.
2. Opsonization: Antigen (microbe) is covered with antibodies that enhances its ingestion and lysis by phagocytic cells.