Two types of light chains, lambda (λ) and kappa (κ), are found in antibodies. A given immunoglobulin has either κ chains or λ chains, never one of each. No functional difference has been found between antibodies having λ or κ light chains, and either type of light chain can be found in antibodies of any of the five major classes. The ratio of the two types of light chains varies from species light to species. In mice, the average κ to λ ratio is 20:1, whereas in humans it is 2:1 and in cattle it is 1:20. The reason for this variation is unknown. Distortions of this ratio can sometimes be used to detect the abnormal proliferation of a
Fig. 4.2 Immunoglobulin molecules are composed of two types of protein chains: heavy chains and light chains. each immunoglobulin molecule is made up of two hinged heavy chains (green) and two light chains (yellow) joined by disulfide bonds so that each heavy chain is linked to a light chain and the two heavy chains are linked together.
B-cell clone, since all progeny of a particular B cell will express an identical light chain. For example, an abnormally high level of λ light chains in a person might indicate the presence of a B-cell tumor that is producing λ chains.
The class, and thus the effector function, of an antibody is defined by the structure of its heavy chain. There are five main heavy-chain classes, or isotypes, some of which have several subtypes, and these determine the functional activity of an antibody molecule. The five major classes of immunoglobulin are IgM, IgD, IgG, IgA, and IgE, and their heavy chains are denoted by the lowercase Greek letters μ, δ, γ, α, and ε, respectively. For example, the constant region of IgM is denoted by Cμ. IgG is by far the most abundant immunoglobulin in serum and has several subclasses (IgG1, 2, 3, and 4 in humans). The distinctive functional properties of the different classes and subclasses of antibodies are conferred by the carboxy-terminal part of the heavy chain, where this chain is not associated with the light chain. The general structural features of all the isotypes are similar, particularly with respect to antigen binding. Here we will consider IgG as a typical antibody molecule, and we will return to discuss the structural and functional properties of the different heavy-chain isotypes in Chapter 5.
The structure of a B-cell receptor is identical to that of its corresponding antibody except for a small portion of the carboxy terminus of the heavy-chain C region. In the B-cell receptor, the carboxy terminus is a hydrophobic amino acid sequence that anchors the molecule in the membrane, and in the antibody it is a hydrophilic sequence that allows secretion.
4-2 Immunoglobulin heavy and light chains are composed of constant and variable regions.
The amino acid sequences of many immunoglobulin heavy and light chains have been determined and reveal two important features of antibody molecules. First, each chain consists of a series of similar, although not identical, sequences, each about 110 amino acids long. Each of these repeats corresponds to a discrete, compactly folded region of protein known as an immunoglobulin domain, or Ig domain. The light chain consists of two Ig domains, whereas the heavy chain of the IgG antibody contains four Ig domains (see Fig. 4.2). This suggests that the immunoglobulin chains have evolved by repeated duplication of ancestral gene segments corresponding to a single Ig domain.