Title: hypervariable region
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - hypervariable region
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13245
Status: current

Definition
Amino acid sequence within the immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) variable (V) regions that shows the greatest variability and contributes most to the antigen or peptide-major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule binding site.

Related Terms
- T-cell receptor (TCR): https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13714
- major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13434
- variable (V) regions: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13773

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1180 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13245/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13245/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13245/xml

Citation: Citation: 'hypervariable region' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13245
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-07-01T01:57:37+00:00