Lecture 5 - Ig Structure Flashcards
Describe clonal selection theory
- Any given antigen has a B cell specific for it
* Once a B cell sees the antigen, it proliferates
What are the two forms of Ig?
- surface Ig (detector form)
* secreted Ig (effector form)
What happens after clonal selection?
Selection of that B cell
• undergoes proliferation
• starts producing a lot of Ig
Describe the structure of Ig
Draw it
Two version of two different chains: • 2x light chains • 2x heavy chains Disulfide bonds holding the chains together Chains are made up of Ig domains Variable region (antigen binding) Constant region (effector function) Antigen binding arms
What is an Ig domain?
How many does each chain have?
A section of the heavy and light chains on the Ig
Light chain: 2 domains
Heavy chains: 4 domains
Describe the structure of an Ig domain Describe some key features: • stability • hydrophobicity What are the two types of Ig domains? How many strands in each?
Sandwich:
• two layers of antiparallel Beta Strands (thus, two beta sheets)
• Sheets held together with disulphide bond
- Very stable
- Antiparallel
- Hydrophobic residues pointing inwards
Two types:
• V like: 9 strands
• C like: 7 strands
How many strands in the V-like Ig domains?
9 strands
How many strands in the C-like Ig domains?
7 strands
What is the Ig superfamily?
Give some examples
A family of proteins that aren’t antibodies, but contain domains that are found in antibodies
- TCRs
- MHC class II
- CD4
- CD8
Where are Ig superfamily proteins generally found?
- Membrane bound
- Secreted
- ER, Golgi
i.e., not in the cytosol
Why is it important that Ig-like domains are encoded by a single exon?
It can be moved by transposons around the genome
It is for this reason that these domains are so conserved
Give an example of an Ig-like domain in various membrane proteins
- in TCR
- in CD4
- in MHC II
Which proteases were commonly used to digest Ig?
- Papain
* Pepsin
Where on Ig does papain cut?
What about pepsin?
Papain: Above hinge
Pepsin: below the hinge
Using papain, which two fragments were gotten?
- Above hinge: Fab
* Below hinge: Fc
Which fragments were gotten when Ig was digested with pepsin?
• Fab’2
Cut below the hinge
• Below the hinge degrades
What is the antigen binding site made up of?
What is the name for these loops?
3 loops from each chain
(Thus 6 loops)
The loops are called:
• CDR: complementarity determining regions
• Hypervariable loops
Where are the hyper variable regions located?
Throughout the variable domains of the Ig, but the loops are often at the ends, exposed.
This makes sense, because they are the ones that need to bind
What are the different Ig classes?
What are the corresponding greek letters?
IgA - α IgD - δ IgE - ε IgG - γ IgM - μ