Antigens / Allergens

Antigens and allergens are two closely related yet fundamentally distinct classes of important biomolecules in immunology and clinical diagnostics. Antigens are molecules that can be specifically recognized by the immune system and induce adaptive immune responses, encompassing pathogen components, tumor-associated antigens, and autoantigens; allergens are antigenic substances that can induce the body to produce specific IgE antibodies and trigger type I hypersensitivity reactions, mainly proteins or glycoproteins. Both play a core role in the pathogenesis of infectious immunity, autoimmune diseases, and allergic diseases.