Ig-like
|aɪ-dʒiː-laɪk|
/aɪˈdʒiːlaɪk/
(immunoglobulin-like)
resembling an antibody (structure)
Etymology
'Ig-like' originates from modern scientific English: the abbreviation 'Ig' stands for 'immunoglobulin', combined with the English suffix '-like' meaning 'similar to'.
'immunoglobulin' was coined in the 20th century from 'immune' + 'globulin' (globulin from Latin 'globulus' meaning 'small sphere'); the hyphenated form 'immunoglobulin-like' and its abbreviation 'Ig-like' developed later in biomedical literature to denote structural similarity.
Initially, 'immunoglobulin' named a class of globular proteins involved in immunity; over time the compound form 'immunoglobulin-like' and the abbreviation 'Ig-like' came to be used as an adjective/noun to describe other proteins or domains that share the characteristic Ig fold.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a protein domain that is structurally similar to an immunoglobulin domain (an 'Ig domain').
Many cell-surface proteins contain an Ig-like that is important for molecular recognition.
Synonyms
Adjective 1
resembling or having structural features of immunoglobulins (antibodies); used to describe proteins or domains with an Ig (immunoglobulin) fold.
The receptor has an Ig-like extracellular domain that mediates cell adhesion.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/30 21:26