Enzymic degradation of the Fc fragment of rabbit immunoglobulin IgG.

The digestion of the Fc fragment of rabbit immunoglobulin IgG by several proteolytic enzymes was investigated by using gel filtration and starch-gel electrophoresis in 8m-urea-formate as criteria of the extent of degradation. Though fragment Fc and mildly reduced fragment Fc proved resistant to tryptic hydrolysis, papain and pepsin cleaved the fragment at acidic pH values and appeared to give rise to a similar spectrum of products. A (limit) peptide comprising the C-terminal 113 residues of the heavy chain was isolated and identified from the pepsin-digest products of fragment Fc. The products of proteolytic digestion of fragment Fc were no longer able to inhibit passive cutaneous anaphylaxis by rabbit anti-(bovine serum albumin) or demonstrate reversed passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in the guinea pig. Nor were they able to inhibit the intestinal absorption of heterologous immunoglobulin IgG in the young mouse. These studies imply that the site or sites responsible for these biological properties of intact fragment Fc reside in the N-terminal 30-40% of the fragment.