Antibody Epitope teaching kit

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The kit holds several components: a model of the influenza virus and various pairs of magnetic binding units representing different antibody configurations. These heavy and light chains are bound together by covalent disulfide bonds. Each pair includes one heavy chain tailored to attach specifically to two distinct epitope areas on an influenza virus and another pair featuring separate light chains attuned to target the exact same two specific epitope locations. This arrangement of chains empowers students to generate a total of four possible combinations by pairing various sets of magnetic heavy and light components. These configurations will interact with an actual influenza antigen, facilitating an analysis of each set's affinity for distinct surface markers called epitopes. Students may observe that only some of the generated antibody variants demonstrate an appreciable binding capability, thereby enabling identification of the microbe through successful targeting by their specifically tailored chains. It's also noteworthy that not every resulting antibody molecule possesses an epitope specificity capable of efficiently targeting the influenza virus effectively.