noun
- Plural of hapten; small molecules that can elicit an immune response only when bound to a larger carrier protein.
Usage: technical; immunology; chemistry
Examples
- Haptenes are too small to trigger antibody production on their own.
- The drug was conjugated to a protein carrier to create haptenes for vaccine development.
- Researchers studied how haptenes bind to carrier molecules in the immune system.
- Many allergens function as haptenes when they attach to skin proteins.
- The laboratory synthesized several haptenes to test immunogenicity.