Affinity & Avidity
•
e
forces or binding energy between an antigen (epitope) and
antibody (idiotype) that gives stability to Ag-Ab complex
•
U
affinity:
•
intrinsic force of attraction between one idiotype
and one epitope
•
U
avidity:
•
the sum of affinities when antibodies bind with
multivalent antigens to form Ag-Ab complexes.