1. Plural of idiotype; the set of unique structural characteristics of an antibody or T-cell receptor that distinguish it from other antibodies or receptors, determined by the variable regions of its heavy and light chains.
Usage: immunology; technical; plural form

Examples

• The idiotypes of different antibodies reflect their distinct antigen-binding specificities.
• Researchers studied how idiotypes on B-cell receptors contribute to immune diversity.
• The immune system can recognize and respond to foreign idiotypes as if they were antigens.
• Idiotypes are used in cancer immunotherapy to target tumor-associated antibodies.
• The network theory of immunity proposes that idiotypes and anti-idiotypes regulate each other.