A small polypeptide different from β2-microglobin associated with a human cell surface antigen (original) (raw)

Nature volume 279, pages 243–244 (1979)Cite this article

Abstract

A STRIKING structural feature of several cell surface molecules in warm-blooded vertebrates is the non-covalent association of polypeptide chains (molecular weight (MW) 40–45,000) bearing alloantigenic determinants, with another molecule, _β_2-microglobulin (_β_2m) (MW 11–12,000)1–4. A role for _β_2m has not been established, but a whole family of cell surface proteins with overall structural similarity to major transplantation antigens have _β_2m as a common invariant subunit. The identification of _β_2m in these proteins has relied mainly on its characteristically low MW and on the use of heterologous antisera. Human thymus antigen (HTA 1) is a surface antigen found on human thymocytes and certain thymomas like MOLT-4. It has been identified by the monoclonal antibody from hybrid myeloma NA1/34 and has been suggested to represent the human homologue of the murine TL antigen5. We describe here experiments showing that the heavy chain of HTA1 is associated with a ‘_β_2m-like’ subunit which is different from _β_2m both in its mobility in SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and in its immunological properties.

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  1. ANDREAS ZIEGLER
    Present address: Medizinische Klinik, Abteilung Innere Medizin II, Otfried-Müller-Strasse, D-7400, Tübingen, 1, FRG

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  1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge, UK
    ANDREAS ZIEGLER & CESAR MILSTEIN

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  1. ANDREAS ZIEGLER
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  2. CESAR MILSTEIN
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ZIEGLER, A., MILSTEIN, C. A small polypeptide different from _β_2-microglobin associated with a human cell surface antigen.Nature 279, 243–244 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/279243a0

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