Conservation of immunoglobulin variable and joining region structure and the design of universal anti-immunoglobulin antibodies reactive with antigen-binding T cell receptors.

The immunoglobulins comprise a multigenic family of recognition molecules that occur as receptors on the surfaces of lymphocytes and as antibodies in circulation in the serum of all vertebrate species [l]. Circulating antibodies (classical immunoglobulins) are produced by lymphocytes of the B cell lineage, and T lymphocytes contain and express on their surface the products of rearranging immunoglobulin genes [2, 31. Extensive data are currently available on the protein sequence of immunoglobulins of mammalian species and on the gene sequences of A chains of the chicken [4] and of heavy chain