Enzymatically produced subunits of proteins formed by plasma cells in mice. II. beta2a-Myeloma protein and Bence Jones protein.

The relationship of Bence Jones protein (mol wt = 45,000) to a beta(2A)-myeloma protein (mol wt = 160,000) formed by the same mouse plasma cell tumor (MPC-2) was investigated. The beta(2A)-myeloma protein was split by treatment with papain and cysteine into fragments (S(20,w) = 3.7S), similar in size to the Bence Jones protein (S(20,w) = 3.6S). Two types of fragments with distinct antigenic groupings designated S and F, were present in the MPC-2 myeloma protein digest. These were partially separated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The Bence Jones protein was found to share antigenic determinants with S fragments from the MPC-2 beta(2A)-myeloma protein and with S fragments from gamma-globulins. Physicochemical observations indicated, however, that the Bence Jones protein was not identical to the globulin fragments produced by treatment with papain and cysteine. Comparison of the S and F fragments from beta(2A)- and gamma-globulins revealed that the antigenic features shared by the various globulins derived from plasma cells (gamma- and beta(2A)-myeloma proteins, the range of normal gamma-globulins) are largely properties of the S fragments, whereas the distinctive antigenic differences between the gamma- and beta(2A)-myeloma proteins were properties which appeared in the F fragments of the molecules.