Speculations. How specific are antibodies?

Abstract An important assumption underlies some theories of antibody diversity; namely, that a single immunoglobulin is complementary to a single antigen or a group of structurally related antigens. These are thought to bind at a single combining site on the immunoglobulin molecule. This review discusses the evidence for and against this idea. We also consider the biological and genetic implications of the possible existence of immunoglobulins with multiple binding functions.

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