J-chain-like component in 18-S immunoglobulin of the skate Raja kenojei, a cartilaginous fish

Mol Immunol. 1985 Jul;22(7):775-8. doi: 10.1016/0161-5890(85)90142-7.

Abstract

A J-chain was found in the IgM, an 18-S pentameric immunoglobulin, of the skate, Raja kenojei, a cartilaginous fish, by means of gel filtration-column chromatography of reduced and radioalkylated immunoglobulin, followed by alkaline-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The J-chain showed an electrophoretic mobility equivalent to that of the light chain, and much slower than that of the J-chain in human IgM. Its electrophoretic banding patterns, however, were different from those of the light chain. Its mol. wt of 17,500 was close to that of mammalian J-chain. The J-chain was not found in another immunoglobulin of the skate, a 9-S dimer held by a noncovalent force. No immunological cross-reactivity was observed between the skate J-chain and human and chicken J-chains. In view of these findings, it was concluded that the J-chain in the skate IgM is both electrophoretically and antigenically considerably different from the J-chain in mammalian IgM.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chromatography, Gel
  • Cross Reactions
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Fishes / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin J-Chains / analysis*
  • Immunoglobulin M / analysis*
  • Molecular Weight

Substances

  • Immunoglobulin J-Chains
  • Immunoglobulin M