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

Citation

Barstad, Paul Arlyn (1975) A Current Look at the Biological Basis of Antibody Diversity and Specificity. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/0931-D337. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:12132017-081719269

Abstract

Using automated protein sequence analysis of BALB/c myeloma proteins, the genetic basis for antibody specificity and diversity is investigated. Studies on the N-terminal regions of the heavy chains from these immunoglobulins reveal that a large amount of diversity must exist in the V_H regions. Examination of the heavy and light chain sequences from myeloma proteins with hapten-binding activities indicates that the heavy chain variable region sequence correlates closely with all the specificities of intact molecules. The light chain appears to be less restricted in some specificities, however. The relevance of these data to the proposed mechanisms of antibody diversity is discussed.

Thesis Files