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What is the term for tagging a pathogen so that phagocytes take it up more readily?
AOpsonization
BAgglutination
CSensitization
DNeutralization
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Opsonization
1. Mannose-binding protein and C-reactive protein are made in the liver and bind polysaccharide components of the bacterial cell wall.
2. Phagocytes such as macrophages carry receptors for those proteins, so they recognise the bacterium the proteins are stuck to.
3. Opsonization is the tagging of a pathogen for phagocytosis by the binding of an antibody or an antimicrobial protein.
4. Neutralization instead coats a pathogen so that it cannot bind to receptors at all, which is a different job.
_Source: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology (CC BY 4.0), Ch 21 "The Lymphatic and Immune System", section 21.2 Barrier Defenses and the Innate Immune Response_
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