antigen
noun
an·ti·gen
| \ ˈan-ti-jən
, -ËŒjen\
, -ËŒjen\
Definition of antigen
: any substance (such as an immunogen or a hapten) foreign to the body that evokes an immune response either alone or after forming a complex with a larger molecule (such as a protein) and that is capable of binding with a product (such as an antibody or T cell) of the immune response
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Other Words from antigen
antigenic
\ ˌan-ti-ˈje-nik
\
adjective
\
adjective
antigenically
\ -ni-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
antigenicity
\ -jə-ˈni-sə-tē
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of antigen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
First things first: All vaccines only contain very small amounts of antigens. — Carolyn L. Todd, SELF, "What Parents Need to Know About the Immunization Schedule for Kids," 26 Aug. 2019 To do that, researchers have needed to identify antigens unique to such cancers, and create CAR’s that can recognize them. — Charles Graeber, WIRED, "How Scientists Built a ‘Living Drug’ to Beat Cancer," 25 July 2019 The vaccines were created with little bits of the bacteria -- called antigens -- instead of entire cells. — Arman Azad, CNN, "Whooping cough vaccine becomes less effective over time, study says," 10 June 2019 Other immune cells produce antibodies that can also grab onto the antigens and help kill the pathogen. — Quanta Magazine, "Breakthrough DNA Editor Born of Bacteria," 6 Feb. 2015 The first method used, which compared antigens on the white blood cells of parents and children, could establish paternity with an accuracy rate of eighty per cent. — Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, "The Paternity Reveal," 24 June 2019 One technique currently being studied involves increasing the number of antigens -- the bits of B. pertussis cells that are recognized by the immune system -- to better mimic the older whole-cell vaccines. — Arman Azad, CNN, "Whooping cough vaccine becomes less effective over time, study says," 10 June 2019 One of them, called CAR-T (for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy), removes a patient’s own immune cells and genetically re-engineers them to bind to a specific protein on the surface of the patient’s cancer cells. — Ezekiel Emanuel, WSJ, "We Can’t Afford the Drugs That Could Cure Cancer," 20 Sep. 2018 Drug companies have spent big on chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, or CAR-T, cancer therapies. — Charley Grant, WSJ, "Big Pharma’s Big Cancer Hope Is Fizzling," 8 Feb. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antigen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for antigen
antigen
noun
English Language Learners Definition of antigen
medical
: a harmful substance that causes the body to produce antibodies
See the full definition for antigen in the English Language Learners Dictionary
antigen
noun
an·ti·gen
| \ ˈant-i-jən
\
\
Medical Definition of antigen
: any substance (as an immunogen or a hapten) foreign to the body that evokes an immune response either alone or after forming a complex with a larger molecule (as a protein) and that is capable of binding with a product (as an antibody or T cell) of the immune response
Other Words from antigen
antigenic
\ ˌant-i-ˈjen-ik
\
adjective
\
adjective
antigenically
\ -i-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
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