Three-dimensional Structure and Diversity of Immunoglobulins

Abstract

At two previous Cold Spring Harbor Symposia, we (Poljak et al. 1968; Poljak et al. 1972) as well as others (Edmundson et al. 1972; Sarma et al. 1972) made presentations which described the initial stages of studies on the three-dimensional structure of immunoglobulin (Ig) molecules and some of their fragments. More recently, the high-resolution structures of different immunoglobulins have become available as a result of successful studies in several laboratories. Since the topic of this symposium is lymphocyte diversity, we will review here some aspects of the three-dimensional structure of immunoglobulins which are possibly related to their diversity, antigen-binding specificity, and genetic control.