variable region

American  

noun

Immunology.

1. a configuration in the upper branches of the Y of an antibody molecule, unique in each antibody type, that binds with the determinant of a specific antigen.

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variable region Scientific  

1. The portion of the amino (NH ₂) terminal of an antibody's heavy and light chains having a variable amino acid sequence. The structure of the variable region determines the antigenic specificity of the antibody.

2. Compare constant region

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Example Sentences

"Our study provides the first report on the atomic-level structure of the 3D-DS phenomenon in an antibody light chain's variable region," points out Hirota.

From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2023

They found that the variable region #4VL can switch between monomeric and tetrameric states.

From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2023

What function does the diversity of the variable region of an antibody help it perform?

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

MHC molecules reside on cell membranes and contain a variable region.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

González-Candelas and his colleagues used patterns of changes in a highly variable region of the HCV genome to sort the viruses into clades, or branches of a tree that illustrate their evolutionary relationships.

From Nature • Feb. 26, 2014