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IgA Half Molecules

II. Genetic Variants of IgA Detected in Normal Mouse Intestinal Contents¹

From the Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

Abstract

Six two chain IgA myeloma proteins are found to have very similar molecular weights and to share immunochemical characteristics suggesting that they represent examples of an unusually small-sized variant of normal mouse IgA. With the use of homologous antiserums in 2-dimensional double diffusion and hemagglutination inhibition, small amounts of this unusual IgA were detected in normal BALB/c intestinal contents. Gel filtration of the intestinal contents suggests that these gut immunoglobulins A exist in a size consistent with a single light chain plus a single heavy chain and can be regarded as IgA "half molecules" or IgA_h. We feel that IgA_h represents a normal variant of mouse IgA, but the possibility of its being a second mouse IgA subclass is discussed.

Footnotes

¹ The first paper in this series is Reference 4.

² Present address: Department of Biology, Salem College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27108.