Title:

The Molecular Weight of Antibodies

Creator:

Heidelberger, Michael
Pedersen, Kai O.

Date:

March 1937

Description:

Here, Heidelberger and the Swedish physical chemist Kai O. Pedersen discussed the results of their effort to determine the molecular weight of antibodies, which had been made possible by recent advances in purifying antibodies from antibody-antigen precipitates. Measuring antibodies in absolute units of weight would allow testing of hypotheses about their chemical constitution. Using the newly developed method of ultracentrifugation, by which particle size could be evaluated from the rate of sedimentation, Heidelberger and Pedersen found that while the weight of rabbit antibody was probably very similar to that of its principal normal globulin, type I horse pneumococcus antibody weighed anywhere between three and four times that of its principal normal globulin component. The two openly wondered if this discrepancy explained the varying chemical and physiological differences between horse and rabbit antibodies. Pedersen helped develop the first ultracentrifuge, at the University of Uppsala, and this article marked the first occasion on which he was credited for his assistance.

Periodical:

Journal of Experimental Medicine

Publisher:

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research

Rights:

Reproduced from the Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1937, 65, 393-414 by copyright permission of the Rockefeller University Press.

Genre:

Articles

Subject:

Antibodies

Format:

Text

Extent:

22 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Periodical. Heidelberger, Michael, and Kai O. Pedersen. "The Molecular Weight of Antibodies." Journal of Experimental Medicine 65, 3 (March 1937): 393-414. Article. 22 Images.. Journal of Experimental Medicine

Legacy ID:

DHBBCD

NLM ID:

101584940X24

Profiles Collection:

The Michael Heidelberger Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X24

Story Section:

Antigens and Antibodies: Heidelberger and The Rise of Quantitative Immunochemistry, 1928-1954