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Antibody Maturation

This animation is a simplified representation of antibody "Sequence Space". New lymphocytes are produced with a re-arranged gene that codes for a randomly chosen antibody shape. Each position in the space represents a distinct genetic sequence that is closely related to its neighbours. Many millions of different shapes are possible at this stage so there is a good chance that one of these naive antibodies will bind, at least weakly, to an antigen. In this animation this happens in at the position with the red border.

The proliferation of naive Lymphocytes with a weak binding ability results in millions of copies that can bind to the invading antigen. Some of these enter a Hypermutation phase and the ability to bind is strengthened progressively (matured) until antibodies appear that are highly specific to a particular antigen.