Would a Denatured Antigen Be Expected to Have the Same

question 28

Multiple Choice

Would a denatured antigen be expected to have the same epitopes as its native (non-denatured) counterpart? Why?

• A) Yes; epitopes are just a sequence of amino acids in a row, so they do not change regardless of 3D shape of the protein molecule they lie within.
• B) Yes; all proteins must be broken down into individual epitopes for presentation to B and T cells on MHC molecules, so each antigen protein MUST be denatured to yield ANY epitopes.
• C) No; ALL epitopes are dependent on being in the proper original 3D conformation of the protein. Denaturing them would destroy them by destroying that conformation.
• D) No; denaturing an antigen results in epitopes with a different amino acid sequence from those on an intact antigen, so they are not the same at all.  
• E) Yes AND No; SOME epitopes are dependent on 3D conformation (conformational epitopes), while some simply depend on the sequence of amino acids (linear epitopes). So, really, it depends on the particular epitope.

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