Not to be confused with Antigenic drift or Antigenic shift.
Antigenic variation or antigenic alteration refers to the mechanism by which an infectious agent such as a protozoan, bacterium or virus alters the proteins or carbohydrates on its surface and thus avoids a host immune response, making it one of the mechanisms of antigenic escape. It is related to phase variation. Antigenic variation not only enables the pathogen to avoid the immune response in its current host, but also allows re-infection of previously infected hosts. Immunity to re-infection is based on recognition of the antigens carried by the pathogen, which are "remembered" by the acquired immune response. If the pathogen's dominant antigen can be altered, the pathogen can then evade the host's acquired immune system. Antigenic variation can occur by altering a variety of surface molecules including proteins and carbohydrates. Antigenic variation can result from gene conversion,[1] site-specific DNA inversions,[2] hypermutation,[3] or recombination of sequence cassettes.[4] The result is that even a clonal population of pathogens expresses a heterogeneous phenotype.[5] Many of the proteins known to show antigenic or phase variation are related to virulence.[6]
^Pays, Etienne; et al. (1983). "Gene conversion as a mechanism for antigenic variation in Trypanosomes". Cell. 34 (2): 371–381. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(83)90371-9. PMID 6616615. S2CID 688880.
^Lysnyansky, I.; Ron, Y.; Yogev, D. (2001). "Juxtaposition of an Active Promoter to vsp Genes via Site-Specific DNA Inversions Generates Antigenic Variation in Mycoplasma bovis". Journal of Bacteriology. 183 (19): 5698–5708. doi:10.1128/JB.183.19.5698-5708.2001. PMC 95462. PMID 11544233.
^Brunham, Robert C.; et al. (1993). "Bacterial Antigenic Variation, Host Immune Response, and Pathogen-Host Coevolution". Infection and Immunity. 61 (6): 2273–2276. doi:10.1128/IAI.61.6.2273-2276.1993. PMC 280844. PMID 8500868.
^Zhang, Jing-Ren; et al. (1997). "Antigenic Variation in Lyme Disease Borreliae by Promiscuous Recombination of VMP-like Sequence Cassettes". Cell. 89 (2): 275–285. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80206-8. PMID 9108482.
^Avery, S. V. (2006). "Microbial cell individuality and the underlying sources of heterogeneity". Nat Rev Microbiol. 4 (8): 577–87. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1460. PMID 16845428. S2CID 27337497.
^van der Woude, Marjan W.; et al. (2004). "Phase and Antigenic Variation in Bacteria". American Society for Microbiology. 17 (3): 581–611. doi:10.1128/CMR.17.3.581-611.2004. PMC 452554. PMID 15258095.
and 29 Related for: Antigenic variation information
Antigenicvariation or antigenic alteration refers to the mechanism by which an infectious agent such as a protozoan, bacterium or virus alters the proteins...
an immune response. All are antigenic and all exhibit antigenicvariation (see below). The pili exhibit the most variation. The pili, Opa proteins, porins...
through antigenicvariation. This is achieved through the switching of its variant surface glycoprotein or VSG, a substance that coats the entire antigen. When...
previous coat. This antigenicvariation creates cyclical waves of parasitemia characteristic of Human African Trypanosomiasis. Antigen 'cleaning' and VSG...
sheep. Antigenic shift is a specific case of reassortment or viral shift that confers a phenotypic change. Antigenic shift is contrasted with antigenic drift...
infection. There is no lasting immunity to O. tsutsugamushi infection. Antigenicvariation prevents the development of cross immunity to the various strains...
animal's immune system to detect and combat the parasite (called antigenicvariation). Gillin's work reveals why Giardia infections are extremely persistent...
old proteins do not recognize spirochetes expressing the new ones. Antigenicvariation is common among pathogenic organisms. These include the agents of...
Neisseria species are also able to alter their antigens to avoid being engulfed by a process called antigenicvariation, which is observed primarily in surface-located...
influenza viruses evolve through are antigenic drift and antigenic shift. Antigenic drift is when an influenza virus' antigens change due to the gradual accumulation...
Antigenic drift is a kind of genetic variation in viruses, arising from the accumulation of mutations in the virus genes that code for virus-surface proteins...
the military commanders, who objected to the experiment. Enormous antigenicvariation in Orientia tsutsugamushi strains is now recognized, and immunity...
as well to antigenicvariation. In Trypanosoma brucei (agent of sleeping sickness), variable surface glycoprotein (VSG) antigenicvariation is a relevant...
00162.x. PMID 19222587. Wisniewski-Dyé F, Vial L (2008). "Phase and antigenicvariation mediated by genome modifications". Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. 94 (4):...
outermost portion of the LPS accessible to antibodies is the O antigen. Variation in the O antigen can be caused by genetic differences in the biosynthetic...
a separate blood group but were later shown to be Lutheran antigens arising from variations in the BCAM gene. The phenotypes Lu(a+b−) and Lu(a+b+) are...
vaccination, low vaccination rates, vaccine failure, and potential antigenicvariation of the mumps virus. Waning immunity from vaccines is likely the primary...
the internal processing of antigens, loading the antigenic peptides generated from pathogens onto the HLA molecules of antigen-presenting cell. Modern HLA...
pathogen, while keeping essential epitopes concealed. This is called antigenicvariation. An example is HIV, which mutates rapidly, so the proteins on its...
Unfortunately, vaccines are not effective with Chagas disease due to antigenicvariation. This pathogen causes damage to the nervous system. African Sleeping...
expression of surface proteins that are targeted by antibodies, antigenicvariation of the VlsE surface protein, inactivating key immune components such...
cells due to the host developing resistance to viral entry. Some antigenicvariation can occur within subgroups, and all strains are oncogenic, but oncogenicity...
virulence factor that M. penetrans displays is antigenicvariation, the ability to exchange or switch antigens against which the host cell produces antibodies...
vertebrate recipient in the saliva of the tsetse fly (Glossina spp.). Antigenicvariation is a characteristic shared by the Salivaria, which has been particularly...
measures, such as vaccination. It became apparent once the extent of antigenicvariation in the virus was recognized that a new vaccine would be needed to...
Pastoret & Taylor 2006, p. 24 Chen J, Deng YM (2009). "Influenza virus antigenicvariation, host antibody production and new approach to control epidemics"...
most relevant due to the immune escape characteristics it allows. Antigenvariation in TprK is regulated by gene conversion. In this way, fragments of...
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