Oz-Markers: Their Occurrence in Subtypes of Human Lambda Immunoglobulin Chains

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the occurrence of Oz-marker in subtypes of human lambda immunoglobulin chains. Antibody diversity is the result of three types of amino acid sequence variability, which include isotypy, allotypy, and idiotypy. Two major isotypic variants of light polypeptide chains are known kappa and lambda. Lambda chains can be subdivided into at least two antigenic subgroups, tentatively called St(+) and St(−) based on differences in the N-terminal region of the molecule. Studies of the sequence of amino acids of a small number of lambda Bence Jones proteins indicate three to four lambda chain subgroups. The c (C-terminal) region of lambda chains—in contrast to the v (variable) region—is remarkably homogeneous. Only a few amino acid interchanges have been observed in this region