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I. Structure and Function

John L. Fahey, MD

JAMA. 1965;194(1):71-74.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Antibody activity is characteristic of the family of structurally related molecules known as the immunoglobulins. These proteins are also known as -globulins because of their relative electrophoretic mobility. Many antibodies, however, migrate more rapidly than the electrophoretic -globulins (Fig 1). Also, molecules unrelated to antibodies may migrate with the electrophoretic mobility of -globulins. For these reasons, the term "immunoglobulin" and the symbol "Ig" or "" have been suggested to designate the family of molecules with antibody activity.¹

The immunoglobulins include the normal serum components known as IgG (G, 7S 2-globulins), IgA (A, 1A or β2A-globulins), IgM (M, 18S 1-macroglobulins), and IgD (D) (Fig 1). The immunoglobulins also include myeloma proteins, Bence-Jones protein, and normal urinary components which have no antibody activity but which are structurally related to the antibodies.

Investigation of antibodies and of immunoglobulins has advanced rapidly in recent years with (1) separation of major structural subunits of . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md 20014.

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