Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letters to Editor
  • Published:

Hypervariable Region of Human Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains

Nature New Biology volume 230, pages 61–63 (1971)Cite this article

Abstract

THE variable regions of human immunoglobulin light chains contain three areas of unusually high variability1–4. Similar hypervariable regions have been postulated for human heavy chains5, 6, but there are no amino-acid sequence data to support this idea. These hypervariable regions are particularly interesting because they may be the areas of the immunoglobulin molecule involved in antibody complementarity.We have made use of the recent observation that a variable region subclass of heavy chains is characterized by an unblocked amino-terminal residue7 and of the availability of automated sequencing techniques8, 9 to study this question in detail with additional heavy chain sequences.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wu, T. T., and Kabat, E. A., J. Exp. Med., 132, 211 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Franek, F., in Symposium on Developmental Aspects of Antibody Formation and Structure, Prague (in the press).

  3. Milstein, C., Nature, 216, 330 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kabat, E. A., Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 169, 43 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Press, E. M., and Hogg, N. M., Nature, 233, 807 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cunningham, B. A., Pflumm, M. N., Rutishauser, U., and Edelman, G. M., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 64, 997 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wang, A. C., Pink, J. R. L., Fudenberg, H. H., and Ohms, J., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 66, 657 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Edman, P., and Begg, G., Europ. J. Biochem., 1, 80 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Capra, J. D., and Kunkel, H. G., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci. (in the press).

  10. Kunkel, H. G., Methods Biochem. Anal., 1, 141 (1954).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Fleischman, J. B., Porter, R. R., and Press, E. M., Biochem. J., 88, 220 (1963).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Pisano, J. J., and Bronzert, J. Biol. Chem., 244, 5597 (1969).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Edman, P., and Sjoquist, J., Acta Chem. Scand., 10, 1507 (1956).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Van Orden, H., and Carpenter, F., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 14, 5, 399 (1964).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Grey, H. M., and Kunkel, H. G., J. Exp. Med., 120, 253 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Natvig, J. B., and Kunkel, H. G., Ser. Haematol., 1, 66 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Press, E. M., and Piggot, P. J., Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol., 32, 45 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Wikler, M., Kohler, H., Shinoda, T., and Putnam, F. W., Science, 163, 75 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Gottlieb, P. D., Cunningham, B. A., Waxdal, J. J., Konigsberg, W. H., and Edelman, G. M., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 61, 168 (1968).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Pitcher, S. E., and Konigsberg, W., J. Biol. Chem., 245, 1267 (1970).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Ponstingl, H., Reichel, W., Schwartz, J., Watanabe, S., Braun, D., Garver, F., Schiechl, J., Barnikol, H. U., and Hilschmann, N., Eighth Intern. Congr. Biochem., Switzerland (1970).

  22. Pink, J. R. L., and Milstein, C., FEBS Symp. γ-Globulins, 177 (edit. by Franek, F., and Shugar, D.) (Academic Press, London and New York, 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Kabat, E. A., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 59, 613 (1968).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Press, E. M., and Hogg, N. M., Biochem. J., 117, 641 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kohler, H., Shimizu, A., Paul, C., Moore, U., and Putnam, F. W., Nature, 227, 1318 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York, 10 East 102nd Street, New York, NY, 10029

    J. DONALD CAPRA

Authors
  1. J. DONALD CAPRA
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

CAPRA, J. Hypervariable Region of Human Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains. Nature New Biology 230, 61–63 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio230061a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio230061a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing