Question

What factors control avidity?

Answer 1

Avidity:

Avidity is said to be the measure of the total stability of the antibody-antigen complex.

It is affected by the following three factors:–

1. Valency of the antibody and antigen: This is the combining capacity of the antibody and the antigen.
2. The affinity of the antibody for the epitope: An epitope is that part of the antigen that attaches to the antibody.
3. The strength of the attachment between the antibody and the antigen's epitope affects avidity.
4. The structural arrangement of interacting parts: Different arrangements have different stabilities and strengths.