[A method of calculatiing immunochemical cross-reactions between homologous proteins]

The effects of amino acid substitutions within the antigenic sites, within the residues close to these sites and within other parts of the molecule on the cross-reaction with the antisera to homologous protein were considered. The method for calculus the values of cross-reactions, based on using primary structures data, X-ray coordinate of one of the homologues and the locations of the antigenic sites is proposed. The values obtained by this method for the cross-reactions of ten myoglobins from various species with antisperm-whale myoglobin sera have a good correlation with the known experimental data. The possibility of using the method to make the location of protein antigenic sites more precise is discussed.