Immunochemical studies to purify rabbit and chicken immunoglobulin G antibody by protein A-Sepharose chromatography.
The immunoglobulin (Ig) G binding properties of protein A made affinity chromatography with protein A an acceptable method for isolation of IgG in mammals. Rabbit IgG was isolated by fractionation of serum on a column containing protein A coupled to Sepharose. The IgG molecules of subclasses 1, 2, and 4 and their fragments containing the Fc region had this affinity, but not IgG-3. The second peak, after washing with 1M acetic acid eluate (pH 7.0) as shown in the Ouchterlony agar immunodiffusion test, was the IgG fraction. Similar studies on normal and hyperimmune chicken sera indicated that chicken IgG does not bind to protein A molecules. Further studies indicated that chicken plasminogen did not bind covalently to protein A molecules and subsequently did not interfere in the affinity of protein A to bind to IgG molecules. The inhibition of binding of chicken IgG to protein A molecule is still unknown.