Epitopes: Difference between revisions

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===T Lymphocyte Epitopes===

It is unfortunate that ''epitope'' has caught on as the term to describe the peptide fragments that T cells recognize, since these are not necessarily derived from the surfaces of protein antigens, but may be derived from portions that were buried in the folded protein. While the perhaps better terms ''cryptotope'' and ''unfoldon'' are never used, they illustrate the point.

It is unfortunate that ''epitope'' has caught on as the term to describe the peptide fragments that T cells recognize, since these are not necessarily derived from the surfaces of protein antigens, but may be derived from portions that were buried in the folded protein. While the perhaps better terms ''cryptotope'' and ''unfoldon'' are almost never used, they illustrate the point.

==Characteristics==

Antibody epitopes can be made up of '''discontinuous''' portions of a protein antigen's sequence, or of a continuous portion. In contrast, T cell epitopes always represent a '''continuous''' fragment of the sequence of a protein antigen.

Antibody epitopes can occur on the surfaces of natively folded proteins, or equally well on denatured conformations of proteins. Peptides, sometimes too short to have a well-defined fold, can bind to antibodies. T cell epitopes are always peptide fragments, and hence, represent a denatured (unfolded) form of the native protein.

==References and Notes==

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@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ===T Lymphocyte Epitopes===
-It is unfortunate that ''epitope'' has caught on as the term to describe the peptide fragments that T cells recognize, since these are not necessarily derived from the surfaces of protein antigens, but may be derived from portions that were buried in the folded protein. While the perhaps better terms ''cryptotope'' and ''unfoldon'' are never used, they illustrate the point.
+It is unfortunate that ''epitope'' has caught on as the term to describe the peptide fragments that T cells recognize, since these are not necessarily derived from the surfaces of protein antigens, but may be derived from portions that were buried in the folded protein. While the perhaps better terms ''cryptotope'' and ''unfoldon'' are almost never used, they illustrate the point.
+==Characteristics==
+Antibody epitopes can be made up of '''discontinuous''' portions of a protein antigen's sequence, or of a continuous portion. In contrast, T cell epitopes always represent a '''continuous''' fragment of the sequence of a protein antigen.
+Antibody epitopes can occur on the surfaces of natively folded proteins, or equally well on denatured conformations of proteins. Peptides, sometimes too short to have a well-defined fold, can bind to antibodies. T cell epitopes are always peptide fragments, and hence, represent a denatured (unfolded) form of the native protein.
 ==References and Notes==
 <references />