A speculative view of immune recognition

Abstract

The speculation that immunologically reactive haptens must be those attached to carriers' immunodominant epitopes suggests a clearer mechanism by which the mysterious hapten-carrier phenomena are generated. This review focuses on the molecular biological nature of immune recognition of hapten-protein antigens both by the T-cell and the B-cell. T and B lymphocytes specifically recognize one determinant of the same antigen molecule in two different ways and in different circumstances. The B-cell recognizes an antigen by the preliminary antigen receptors on the cell's surface, at the time it is still intact, interiorizes it and presents the processed antigenic peptide after an antigen processing procedure. In contrast, the T-cell recognizes a hidden antigenic determinant, together with portions of the MHC on the presenting cell. The immune memory is mainly directed to the hidden internal determinant of an antigen. Some aspects of the clonal selection theory of antibody formation are also discussed at the modern molecular level.