The Allosteric Model of Monod, Wyman and Changeux and the Phenomenon of Rising B/F-Curves in Hormone — Antibody Reactions

Abstract

The question of conformational change of antibody molecules when combined with antigen molecules is not new. So, in 1965 GROSSBERG and coworkers have investigated the effect of hapten on the chymotryptic proteolysis of antibody and they found, that the presence of the specific hapten reduced the rate of antibody proteolysis. This result justifies the assumption that when a hapten is bound to an antibody the configuration of the antibody changes to another form less readily accessible for chymotrypsin /1/. At Gottingen in 1967 the kinetics of several antigen antibody reactions have been studied in more detail by FROESE with the so called temperature-jump method. Unfortunately only in a few experiments there were indications for a second relaxation effect and these effects were only slightly marked. On the basis of these kinetic experiments, it has been impossible to say whether or not a conformational change accompanies the antibody-hapten reaction /2/.