The disulphide bonds of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G

Six peptides containing eight half-cystine residues were isolated in good yield, after either oxidation or reduction and carboxymethylation of fragment C-1, which contains the N-terminal half of the heavy chain of rabbit immunoglobulin G. The sequences of five of these peptides had been reported previously (Cebra, Steiner Wilkinson, 1969) and that of the sixth was established. Other peptides containing half-cystine residues were isolated in much lower yield and are presumed to be derived from minor sequence variants. The cystine-containing peptides from enzymic digests of whole immunoglobulin G and Fc fraction were studied by several techniques and the results obtained enable us to put forward a scheme of the arrangement of the inter- and intra-chain disulphide bonds.