The mutational mechanism that results in the production of antibodies that bind antigen with higher affinity is called _____:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Somatic hypermutation is the mutational mechanism that leads to the production of antibodies with higher affinity. It results from spontaneous mutations that occur in the variable regions of the immunoglobulin genes during B cell proliferation and activation. This leads to the generation of a diverse repertoire of B cells with varying affinities for a given antigen, allowing for the selection of high-affinity clones through clonal selection. Somatic recombination and isotype switching are other mechanisms that contribute to antibody diversity, but not specifically to the production of higher-affinity antibodies. Antigen processing is not a mutational mechanism, but rather a process by which antigens are broken down and presented to immune cells in order to elicit an immune response.

The Mutational Mechanism That Results in the Production of Antibodies