Immunology Homework Help

[ktwong]

Mom and Dad are both homozygous at all Ig heavy and light chain constant region loci but share no

alleles. They have a daughter named Quentin and own two pigs, Porky and Babe. Assume you

separated and purified mu heavy chains and lambda light chains from Quentin’s serum. You first

immunized Mom and Porky with Quentin’s lambda light chains; then immunized Dad and Babe with

Quentin’s mu heavy chains.

Answer each of the following questions and concisely explain your reasoning.

• Will any of the four antisera’s specificities be exactly the same? Explain your reasoning.

• Make a table showing how each antiserum would react with the serum of each family member

(including the pigs). Use a “+” to indicate a reaction, and a “-“ to indicate no reaction.

• What proportion of splenic B-cells from Mom, Dad, and Quentin would be bound by F(ab’)2

fragments prepared from each antiserum?

• Assume you tested B cells from Quentin’s paternal grandfather with the Porky anti-Quentin

lambda. Your find that 75% of his B cells are bound by this antiserum. Is this what you would

expect genetically? If so, explain why; if not, advance a plausible explanation.

Can anyone help me figure out this problem? I'm a little confused with what is meant by homozygous at all the heavy and and light chain constant regions but they don't share alleles? and I'm a little confused as to what immunizing the parents with the daughter's light chains would do. Still a concept I'm still trying to grasp.