Proteolytic degradation of exocrine and serum immunoglobulins

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Abstract

The susceptibility of exocrine and serum immunoglobulins and antibodies to proteolytic degradation was assessed. Colostral and duodenal fluid exocrine 11S IgA, monomeric serum IgA, and IgG were digested with trypsin, chymotrypsin, or duodenal fluid. Exocrine IgA was more resistant to digestion than were the serum immunoglobulins. Under conditions of the experiments, most of colostral IgA retained its 11S quaternary structure, including the secretory piece; the portion degraded was reduced almost entirely to peptides.

Authors

William R. Brown, Richard W. Newcomb, Kimishige Ishizaka