Structural studies on induced antibodies with defined idiotypic specificities. III. N-terminal amino acid sequence of the heavy and light chains of mouse anti-streptococcal antibodies--A5A, S8, and S117.

The murine VH genetic map consists of two different subloci of VH genes. Seven idiotypes have been allocated to these two different subloci, one of which contains genes coding for the A5A idiotype, while the second contains the genes encoding for six other idiotypic markers. Previous studies from this laboratory have shown that anti-Ars antibodies are best classified in the murine VHII subgroup. Studies from other laboratories indicate that the J558 idiotype could be classified in a similar fashion. The sequence of the T15 myeloma protein VH region is most characteristic of the murine VHIII subgroup. These studies were undertaken in order to study the VH subgroup of two additional murine VH markers. Since one of these markers has been allocated to a separate sublocus, comparisons can be made for the first time between the "framework" residues (VH subgroup) and the murine genetic map. The data indicate that within a single presently defined sublocus proteins exist which contain remarkably different "framework" residues.