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Structure of antibodies
Author(s) -
Mestecky J.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0714.1972.tb01667.x
Subject(s) - antibody , antigen , immunology , biology , computational biology
Vertebrates develop a highly specialized system of defense mechanisms as a result of continuous stimulation by foreign materials from the environment. Whether free in body fluids or attached to cell surfaces, antibodies play the key role in the recognition of, and protection of the body against, foreign substances. Important characteristics of antibodies are their adaptive production as a result of antigenic stimulation and the specificity they exhibit in their reaction with the antigen that induced their production. Antibodies are present in the globulin fraction of the body fluids and are summarily called immunoglobulins. Knowledge pertaining lo antibody structure has been acquired principally from research of the last two decades. During this period many important findings have been made that are applicable to other proteins; in fact, antibodies are presently the most completely characterized of the complex proteins. This paper will encompass a brief review of the structure of antibodies. The rapid development in this field makes it difficult lo ensure the inclusion of all appropriate publications, and therefore we shall refer the reader principally to the most recent review articles and books which can be examined for more detailed information. Of these, four deserve special attention: Kochwa & Kunkel (1971), Amos (1971), Merler (1970), and the Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology (1967).