Mechanism of the Antigenic Variation June, 2014 | Page 3

itself with a coating of glycoprotein. Initially, the coat protects the protozoan, but eventually it
gets detected by the immune system.
Antigenic Variation in Viruses
Viral infections are usually immediately cleaned by the immune defense. Some viruses such as
Influenza may reoccur. It is because viruses produce virions, which resist the antibodies
produced by the immune system. Influenza usually processes antigenic variation by generating
a film (membrane) of peptide HA on its surface. When the virus is detected, the antibodies
easily break the HA peptide into two sub-units, i.e. HA1 and HA2. The virus becomes stronger if
the peptides at the cleavage sites are lipophilic.

Source:
http://www.researchomatic.com/the-molecular-mechanism-of-antigenic-variation-155759.html

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