A Current Look at the Biological Basis of Antibody Diversity and Specificity

[摘要] Using automated protein sequence analysis of BALB/cmyeloma proteins, the genetic basis for antibody specificityand diversity is investigated. Studies on the N-terminalregions of the heavy chains from these immunoglobulins revealthat a large amount of diversity must exist in the V_H regions.Examination of the heavy and light chain sequences from myelomaproteins with hapten-binding activities indicates thatthe heavy chain variable region sequence correlates closelywith all the specificities of intact molecules. The lightchain appears to be less restricted in some specificities,however. The relevance of these data to the proposed mechanisms of antibody diversity is discussed.

[发布机构] University:California Institute of Technology;Department:Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

[关键词] Biochemistry