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{{Short description|Antigen/epitope that induce immune response}}An immunogen is any substance that generates B-cell (humoral/antibody) and/or T-cell (cellular) adaptive immune responses upon exposure to a host organism.{{Citation | title = im·mu·no·gen | quote = a substance that produces an immune response | year = 2003 | work = Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary | edition = 11th | location = Springfield, Massachusetts, USA | publisher = Merriam-Webster, Inc. }}WEB, Immunogen, 4 March 2015,weblink immunopaedia.org.za, 2021-10-21, A substance capable of eliciting a immune response. All immunogens are antigens, but some antigen are not immunogens (e.g. haptens),weblink 2021-10-21, live, Immunogens that generate antibodies are called antigens ("antibody-generating"). Immunogens that generate antibodies are directly bound by host antibodies and lead to the selective expansion of antigen-specific B-cells. Immunogens that generate T-cells are indirectly bound by host T-cells after processing and presentation by host antigen-presenting cells.An immunogen can be defined as a complete antigen which is composed of the macromolecular carrier and epitopes (determinants) that can induce immune response.An explicit example is a hapten. Haptens are low-molecular-weight compounds that may be bound by antibodies, but cannot elicit an immune response. Consequently, the haptens themselves are nonimmunogenic and they cannot evoke an immune response until they bind with a larger carrier immunogenic molecule. The hapten-carrier complex, unlike free hapten, can act as an immunogen and can induce an immune response.BOOK, Cellular and Molecular Immunology. 7th edition, 2012, Elsevier, Ed. Gruliow R., Abbas A.K., Lichtman A.H., Pillai S., 101–103, 483, Until 1959, the terms immunogen and antigen were not distinguished.WEB, Medical Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Immunogen,weblink 2013-12-31, 2014-01-01,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140101084737weblink">weblink live,

Used carrier proteins

• Keyhole limpet hemocyanin

• Concholepas concholepas hemocyanin

• Bovine serum albumin

• Ovalbumin

Immunological adjuvants

An adjuvant (from Latin adiuvare – to help) is any substance, distinct from antigen, which enhances immune response by various mechanisms: recruiting of professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to the site of antigen exposure; increasing the delivery of antigens by delayed/slow release (depot generation); immunomodulation by cytokine production (selection of Th1 or Th2 response); inducing T-cell response (prolonged exposure of peptide-MHC complexes [signal 1] and stimulation of expression of T-cell-activating co-stimulators [signal 2] on the APCs' surface) and targeting (e. g. carbohydrate adjuvants which target lectin receptors on APCs). Adjuvants have been used as additives to improve vaccine efficiency since the 1920s. Generally, administration of adjuvants is used both in experimental immunology and in clinical settings to ensure a high quality/quantity memory-enhanced antibody response, where antigens must be prepared and delivered in a fashion that maximizes production of a specific immune response. Among commonly used adjuvants are complete and incomplete Freund's adjuvant and solutions of aluminum hydroxide or aluminum phosphate.BOOK, Abbas A.K., Lichtman A.H., Pillai S., 2012, Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Elsevier, 85, JOURNAL, Cox J.C., Coulter A.R., 1997, Adjuvants –a classification and review of their modes of action, Vaccine, 15, 3, 248–256, 10.1016/s0264-410x(96)00183-1, 9139482,

References

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