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Note that the antigen rests in a very tight binding pocket which
is exactly the right size and shape to receive it. This is one reason
for the underlying specificity of the antibody-antigen interaction - the
lock and key hypothesis. Other important factors include enthalpic
contributions from van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bonds, and entropic
contributions from the release of bound water upon antigen binding.
The model presented above is only a small part of the antibody molecule
containing the antigen binding site, one L chain and a fragment of one H
chain. This Fab fragment contains several disulphide bonds, although
only one of them is involved in holding the H and L chains together.