Guest guest Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 A hapten is a small molecule which can elicit an immune response only when attached to a large carrier such as a protein ; the carrier may be one which also does not elicit an immune response by itself. (Generally, only large molecules, infectious agents, or insoluble foreign matter can elicit an immune response in the body.) Once the body has generated antibodies to a hapten-carrier adduct , the small-molecule hapten may also be able to bind to the antibody, but it will usually not initiate an immune response; usually only the hapten-carrier adduct can do this. Sometimes the small-molecule hapten can even block immune response to the hapten-carrier adduct by preventing the adduct from binding to the antibody. One of the most common examples of harm from haptens is the immune reactivity related to mercury that large numbers with conditions like MS have.  Mercury has an affinity to SH sulfhydrol radicals. Causes lots of adverse effects documented in the lit.  Lots of papers/documentation on this at: www.melisa.org Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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