Abstract
Immunoglobulins in man exist in five classes: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD and IgE, all of which contain the basic four-chain unit (Chapter 3). The heavy chains are designated γ, µ, α, δ and ∊, respectively. The classes have different CH regions but the VH regions and the light chains are drawn from the same repertoire. In addition, human IgG exists in four subclasses and IgA, in two subclasses. The class and subclass of a particular immunoglobulin molecule is determined by the primary amino acid structure of the CH regions, and in the case of the subclasses, the amino acid sequence differences are small. The immunoglobulin classes also differ in other respects — IgM is a pentameric molecule (containing five of the four-chain units plus an additional polypeptide, the J chain). Serum IgA can exist as monomers dimers or trimers and in secretions, secretory IgA is a dimer containing J chain and an extra component, the secretory component. These structural differences are related to the biological function which each class of immunoglobulin performs.
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Steward, M.W. (1984). Structure and biological activities of the immunoglobulin classes. In: Antibodies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5572-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5572-1_5
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