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Biomedical subjects

R R Porter

Publications and source records attributed to R R Porter.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Allotypically related sequences in the Fd fragment of rabbit immunoglobulin heavy chains.

The sequence has been completed of the N-terminal 94 residues of the variable section of the Fd fragment of heavy chains from rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) of allotype As1. Most of the sequence of the same section from IgG of allotype Aa3 is also reported. These results, in conjunction with a substantial sequence of the variable region of allotype Aa2 reported elsewhere (Fleischman, 1971), show the presence of 16 positions (including six consecutive positions) in which the residue present correlates with the allotype. No allotype-related sequence variation has been found in the constant section of the Fd fragment. This evidence supports the view that two genes code for the heavy chain and it can be used as evidence in favour of somatic mutation as the origin of the variability in the sequence of the N-terminal section. The evolutionary origin of the ;a' locus allotypes of rabbit immunoglobulins remains obscure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The fixation of complement and the activated first component (C1) of complement by complexes formed between antibody and divalent hapten.

Hapten-antibody complexes prepared at equivalence with the bivalent hapten bis-DNP-octamethylene-diamine and purified rabbit anti-DNP antibody were fractionated by Sepharose gel-filtration and the fractions examined by electron microscopy. Individual fractions were tested for whole-complement fixation and C1 fixation. Dimer forms did not show this type of biological activity, while fractions containing tetramers and larger polymers exhibited both C and C1 fixation, which could be inhibited by prior exposure of the complexes to the univalent hapten epsilon-DNP-caproic acid. The dose-response result indicated that the C-fixation observed was not due to interpolymeric cooperative effects. It was concluded that in the generation of biological activity by soluble antigen-antibody complexes made with complement-fixing antibody, quaternary structural changes following specific combination with antigen may be as important as any tertiary structural alterations that occur in the individual immunoglobulin molecule.

Animals↗

Sequence studies of the Fd section of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G.

A partial amino acid sequence was given by Cebra, Steiner & Porter (1968b) of the N-terminal half of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G. This was extended and in part corrected to give a continuous sequence of 136 residues, which together with other work accounts for three-quarters of the total sequence. Evidence is given suggesting that there is a limited region of 10-15 residues that are exceptionally variable in the heavy chains from pooled rabbit immunoglobulin G.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The disulphide bonds of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G.

Six peptides containing eight half-cystine residues were isolated in good yield, after either oxidation or reduction and carboxymethylation of fragment C-1, which contains the N-terminal half of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G. The sequences of five of these peptides had been reported previously (Cebra, Steiner & Porter, 1968b; Wilkinson, 1969) and that of the sixth was established. Other peptides containing half-cystine residues were isolated in much lower yield and are presumed to be derived from minor sequence variants. The cystine-containing peptides from enzymic digests of whole immunoglobulin G and Fc fraction were studied by several techniques and the results obtained enable us to put forward a scheme of the arrangement of the inter- and intra-chain disulphide bonds.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Common peptides from the N-terminal half of heavy chain of immunoglobulin G from normal rabbit serum and a specific antibody.

Fragment C-1, the N-terminal half of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G, was prepared by cyanogen bromide cleavage from the heavy chain of immunoglobulin G obtained both from the pooled serum of normal rabbits and from specific anti-dinitrophenyl antibody. Tryptic digestion of fragment C-1 after the lysine residues had been allowed to react with S-ethyl trifluorothioacetate led to the isolation of six peptides from inert immunoglobulin G and specific antibody that appear to account for most of this section of the heavy chain. This approach should make possible comparative sequence studies of the Fd section of the heavy chain from different allotypes and from specific antibodies.

Amino Acids↗

The partial sequence of two large peptides from the N-terminal half of heavy chains from normal rabbit immunoglobulin G.

The partial amino acid sequence of two large peptides is described. These were prepared from the N-terminal half of the heavy chain of immunoglobulin G from pooled normal rabbit serum by tryptic digestion after the in-amino groups of the lysine residues had been blocked with S-ethyl trifluorothioacetate. These peptides are believed to account for about 145 residues of fragment C-1, the N-terminal section of rabbit immunoglobulin G heavy chain prepared by cyanogen bromide cleavage. The evidence from the present paper and the preceding paper (Cebra, Givol & Porter, 1968) suggests that it may be possible to deduce a predominant amino acid sequence for most, if not all, of this section of the molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Allotype-related sequence variation of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G.

The heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G exists in three major allotypic patterns, Aa1-Aa3. A comparison of the amino acid compositions of the heavy chains isolated from immunoglobulin IgG homozygous for each allotypic determinant revealed the presence of an additional methionine residue per chain in the Aa3 allotype relative to the Aa1 and Aa2 allotypes. The position of the additional methionine residue was determined by cyanogen bromide cleavage and by tryptic digestion of the gamma-chains; it coincided with the inter-Fd-Fc area of the chain. Isolation and characterization of the corresponding tryptic peptides of 31 amino acid residues from each of the allotypes showed the presence of a methionine-for-threonine replacement in the Aa3 allotype, but only in about 70-80% of the molecules. No other allotypic variations were seen in this tryptic peptide. Allotypically related variations in composition were also detected in the N-terminal cyanogen bromide-cleavage peptide.

Journal Article↗