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Antigenic Determinants of Human IgM Requiring Interaction of µ- and -Chains

Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

Abstract

An antigenic determinant of human type IgM proteins which can be detected only when µ and polypeptide chains are combined has been investigated. Precipitin in gel and hemagglutination techniques demonstrated that two antisera, which were specific for IgM, detected antigenic determinants present only on IgM preoteins of type

Studies were performed to determine whether the antigenic specificity was a characteristic of chains or µ chains, or whether both were required. The IgM type specificity was retained by the m₈ subunit as well as by enzymatically produced Fab fragments. Antigenic reactivity was not detected in either the heavy or light chains isolated from and type IgM. The antigenic specificity was demonstrable, however, in reduced, dissociated and recombined molecules consisting of µ chains and chains. Expression of this configurational antigenic determinant of type IgM proteins, therefore, requires non-covalent interactions between portions of µ chains and chains.