How Do Variable Regions Contribute to Antibody Diversity?
The diversity of variable regions is generated through several mechanisms: - Somatic Recombination: The process where different gene segments (V, D, and J segments) are shuffled and recombined to create unique variable regions. - Somatic Hypermutation: A process that introduces point mutations into the variable region genes during an immune response, further increasing diversity. - Class Switching: The changing of an antibody's isotype (e.g., IgM to IgG) while maintaining the same variable region, allowing different effector functions.
