The Nature of the Combining Sites of Antibodies

[摘要] It as been found that the antibody specific regions of antibodies homologous to the p-azobenzoate or p-azobenzenearsonate ions can be protected against destruction by iodination through combination with the homologous hapten. This protection phenomenon proves that there is a grouping within the specific region of the antibody which is altered by iodination and that the loss of antibody activity by iodination in the absence of a combining hapten is not due to an alteration of the part of the antibody molecule other than the specific combining site.The protection phenomenon can be used to define more closely the nature of the combining sites of antibodies by using a variety of agents known to combine with definite chemical groupings.Benzenearsonate ion was found to combine somewhat with antiserum homologous to the benzoate ion although such combination was not realized from hapten inhibition measurements. This indicates a possible use of the protection phenomenon to measure the combining powers of very weakly combining haptens.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）