Abstract
Immunoglobulins (Ig) isotypes A, D, E, G, and M are glycoproteins which are mainly composed of a “Y”-shaped Ig monomer (~150 kDa), consisting of two light and two heavy chains. Both light and heavy chains contain variable (N-terminal) and constant regions (C-terminal). Each light chain consists of one variable domain and one constant domain, whereas each heavy chain has one variable domain and three constant domains. However, heavy-chain antibodies consisting of only heavy chains and lacking the light chains are found in camelids and cartilaginous fishes. Unlike other immunoglobulins, the heavy chain of avian antibody IgY (~180 kDa) consists of four constant domains. The single-chain variable fragment (scFv; ~25 kDa) of an antibody contains variable regions of antibody heavy and light chains. The fragment antigen-binding (Fab; ~50 kDa) region has the full antibody light chain but the heavy chain is composed of a variable region and one constant domain.
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Acknowledgement
This work is supported by Science Foundation Ireland under CSET Grant No. 05/CE3/B754 and 10/CE/B1821.
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Ma, H., O’Kennedy, R. (2015). The Structure of Natural and Recombinant Antibodies. In: Houen, G. (eds) Peptide Antibodies. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1348. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2999-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2999-3_2
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
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