Apparent Inability of Polypeptides constructed from D-Amino-acids to stimulate Antibody Formation

Abstract

Gill, Gould and Doty¹ have demonstrated that while a synthetic polypeptide containing the L-amino-acids of lysine and glutamic acid stimulates antibody formation, a similar polypeptide constructed from D-amino-acids does not. Two possible explanations were offered for the inability of the latter to stimulate antibody formation: (1) some failure in the sequence of steps leading to antibody production, including the possibility that the ‘D-polypeptide’ cannot be transported to the site of antibody production, or that some prerequisite hydrolysis cannot be performed by the usual enzymes; (2) the inability of the γ-globulin chain to fold around the determinant portion of the ‘D-polypeptide’.