Recombinant antigens, made up of different proteins, stimulate immune responses and are used in vaccines. Some antigens provide lifelong protection, while others need periodic boosters. The human body can produce its own antigens, including in cancer cells. Drug-resistant bacteria create dangerous recombinant antigens that can spread. Recombinant antigens are important in medicine but can also promote disease.
A recombinant antigen is a molecule made up of different types of proteins that triggers an immune response. Depending on the types of proteins contained within the antigen, a particular antigen can stimulate the production of multiple types of antibodies. This mechanism is often employed in medicine to intentionally encourage the human body to produce antibodies, such as vaccines. The antigens in vaccines elicit an immune response adapted to their recombinant structure.
A proper immune response to a recombinant antigen is essential when stimulating long-term resistance to the disease. Some antigens stimulate the immune system powerfully enough that exposure confers lifelong protection against them in the future, while others produce a milder response that wanes over time. Some vaccines need to be given only once, as a single exposure to the antigen is enough to protect a person for life, while others need to be given periodically throughout an individual’s life so that resistance does not drop below of a critical level and leave it vulnerable to disease.
A recombinant antigen does not always come from an external source. The human body can produce its own antigens within cells, both during normal and abnormal function. Cancer tumor cells produce antigens that stimulate a variety of responses in the human body in addition to the production of antibodies, including inflammation. Producing antibodies does not guarantee that the body will mount an effective defense against an antigen, and while the situation may not always be as bad as cancer, antibiotics and other medications are sometimes needed.
One of the most nefarious sources of recombinant antigens in the human body are drug resistant bacteria. These bacteria are a significant problem because the human body cannot develop adequate antibodies against the antigens they carry or cannot generate enough antibodies. A recombinant antigen on a drug-resistant bacterium is created when multiple proteins on the bacterium’s surface bind together in a way that makes some antibiotics unable to destroy the bacterium. This resistance allows the organism to multiply and spread more recombinant antigens around its host. As more recombinant antigens are produced, the chance of producing a resistant strain of bacteria grows.
Without recombinant antigens, effective medical treatments could be much more difficult to create. A lack of recombinant antigens can also make fighting bacteria much easier, because no microorganism would ever become resistant to antibiotics. Recombinant antigens can promote both health and disease, depending on the context, and the many contexts in which they appear make them both a tool and a target in modern medicine.
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