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Antibody Binding

The Human immune response to an infection includes the ability to produce antibodies that bind to the invading antigen. Antibodies are produced by B Lymphocytes and these cells have copies of the antibodies they produce embedded in their membranes. They circulate in the body in a resting state until an embedded antibody binds with an antigen. Binding is essentially electrostatic but some antibodies are capable of changing shape and binding to many different antigens. This has been likened to the human hand grasping an object.

When a binding takes place, the B Lymphocyte is switched on and it produces clones of itself.  Some of these clones become plasma cells and discharge their antibodies into the circulation.