A Quantitative Method for Determining Human γG Allotype Antigens (Gm)

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Abstract
Quantitative measurements of human γG allotype antigens (Gm) provided information on some of the factors controlling the sera expression of immunoglobulin allotypes. The data suggested different rates of synthesis by allelic Gm genes at two γG subclass loci. This was apparent from the striking differences in the serum expression of antithetical γG3 allotypes, Gm(b) and Gm(g), and a smaller difference for the γG1 isoalleles, Gm(f) and Gm(a). In heterozygous sera, Gm(b+) γG constituted 70% of the γG3 heavy chains and Gm(g) 30%; Gm(f+) γG constituted 54% of γG1 chains and Gm(a) 46% (mean values). Allotype values were consistent with γG class and subclass measurements. A gene dosage effect was also present, reflected in the differences between mean values of homozygous and heterozygous subjects—although phenotype ranges overlapped. The data indicated that normal heterozygous sera contained close to balanced proportions of each γG1 gene product. Certain exceptional hypergammaglobulinemic sera had unusual distributions of allelic γG1 heavy chains without evidence of a monoclonal component.

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