An IgG2a-producing variant of an IgG2b-producing mouse myeloma cell line. Structural studies on the Fc region of parent and variant heavy chains.

The IgG2b-producing MPC 11 mouse myeloma cell line has yielded a number of variants which synthesize heavy chains characteristic of a different immunoglobulin subclass, IgG2a, as previously shown by serology, peptide maps, and assembly profiles. We have studied the Fc regions of the IgG2a protein synthesized by one variant, ICR 9.9.2.1, and of the IgG2b protein synthesized by MPC 11 and compared them to MOPC 173, an IgG2a protein of known sequence. We analyzed the Fc regions of the three immunoglobulins by several analytical techniques, such as immunoelectrophoresis of papain digests, NaDodSo4-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analyses of Fc CNBr fragments, and comparative ion-exchange chromatography of radiolabeled tryptic and chymotryptic Fc peptides. In addition, Fc CNBr fragments of the variant gamma2a and MPC 11 gamma2b molecules were isolated and subjected to amino acid analysis and partial sequence determination. From these data, we concluded that the Fc fragment of ICR 9.9.2.1 is most probably identical to that of MOPC 173 and different from the parental gamma2b Fc fragment. A number of residue positions which discriminate between gamma2b and gamma2a sequences are described. In two of three segments sequenced, gamma2b and gamma2a molecules share more identical residues than either shares with another mouse subclass, gamma1.