epitope

American

[ep-i-tohp] / ˈɛp ɪˌtoʊp /

noun

Immunology.

determinant.

epitope British

/ ˈɛpɪˌtəʊp /

noun

the site on an antigen at which a specific antibody becomes attached

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of epitope

epi- + -tope, from Greek tópos “place”; cf. topo-

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

epitope

"Previous efforts to target this receptor have been unsuccessful. But now that we've identified this epitope, there could be a therapeutic path forward to target Fas in tumors," Tushir-Singh said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2023

The word "epitope" means the substance that the immune system recognizes and protects against.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2022

Antibodies secreted after binding to one epitope on an antigen may exhibit cross reactivity for the same or similar epitopes on different antigens.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Adagio’s lead antibody, ADG20, was among a group isolated from a convalescent SARS-1 donor, and targets a conserved epitope on the S protein present on all SARS-1, SARS-2 and many potential emergent bat viruses.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 6, 2022

B cells respond most strongly when each arm attaches to a different epitope.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 15, 2021

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023