histocompatibility antigen

noun Immunology.

any antigen on the surface of tissue or blood cells that provokes the immune response and subsequent rejection when transplanted to an individual of a different antigenic type, thus determining whether the tissues or organs of a donor and recipient are histocompatible.

Nearby words

histioid, histo-, histoblast, histochemistry, histocompatibility, histocompatibility antigen, histocompatibility gene, histocyte, histocytosis, histodialysis, histodifferentiation

Origin of histocompatibility antigen

First recorded in 1965–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for histocompatibility antigen

histocompatibility antigen

noun

a molecule occurring on the surface of tissue cells that can take several different forms. The differences between histocompatibility antigens are inherited and determine organ transplant rejection

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

Medicine definitions for histocompatibility antigen

histocompatibility antigen

n.

Any of various antigens on the surface of cell membranes that serve to identify a cell as self or nonself and are used to determine whether a tissue graft or transfusion will be accepted by a recipient.