From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishantigenan‧ti‧gen /ˈæntɪdʒən/ noun [countable] HBHM technical a substance that makes the body produce antibodies
Examples from the Corpus
antigen• Indeed, purified antigen-specific B lymphocytes from HIV-1-infected patients can be activated invitro by HIV-1 antigens to secrete cytokines and immunoglobulins.• The Pyloriset detects IgG antibodies by agglutination, using Latex particles coated with acid extracted antigen of H pylori.• Serum is placed into a circular-well area and allowed to diffuse into the agar forming antigen antibody complexes.• This means that physical separation of the free labeled antigen from the antibody-bound labeled antigen is not necessary for measurement.• In these diseases the related antigens are enzymes in the granules of neutrophils.• Sera from all patients contained IgG antibodies that recognised Giardia heat shock antigen.• In contrast, an IgG and IgA response to this antigen has been reported in children with acute infection.• Each of the Edinburgh patients colonised by the epidemic strain showed a rising IgG antibody response to P cepacia-specific cell wall antigen.Origin antigen (1900-2000) German French antigène, from anti- “anti-” + -gène (from Greek -genes “born”) 