Specificities of Germ Line Antibodies
Abstract
The past few years have seen remarkable progress in research on the structure and function of antibodies. In our own work we have shown that it is possible to obtain extensive significant information on the composition and structure of antibody combining sites using NMR, together with nitroxide spin- label haptens. This derived information includes the amino acid composition of the combining site region, that is, the number of tyrosines, alanines, etc. that are within approx. 20 A of the odd electron on the paramagnetic hapten. In antibody molecules there are typically 40-50 amino acids in this combining site region. We have shown that NMR titration data can be used to estimate distances between individual protons on amino acid side chains and the odd electron (Anglister et. al., 1984b; Frey et. al., 1988). These measured distances extend out to about 20 A and into distances of the order of 3-5 A. Shorter distances can sometimes be estimated from nuclear magnetization transfer experiments. The NMR data also provide a powerful and convenient means of obtaining the on-off kinetics of hapten-antibody reactions, using resonance signals from the hapten as well as from the protein.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA219686
Entities
People
- Gordon S Rule
- Harden M. Mcconnell
- Thomas P. Theriault
Organizations
- Stanford University