Studies on the altered electrophoretic type of the factor VIII related antigen

A distinct sub-group of von Willebrand's disease is characterized by an electrophoretically faster mobility of the factor VIII related antigen. Some of the physico-chemical properties of this variant antigen were investigated in this communication. The effect of temperature was tested by heating aliquots (0.5 ml) for 20 minutes at 45 degrees C, 56 degrees C and 65 degrees C. The variant was found to be denatured at 56 degrees C while the control was denatured at 65 degrees C. The effect of pH was tested by assessing the quantity (Laurell technique) and electrophoretic mobility (two dimensional immunoelectrophoresis) of the antigen in a variety of buffers ranging in pH from 7.0 to 9.5. The quantity of antigen was variable both among variants and controls and the electrophoretic mobility of the variant antigen was faster at all pH's. Molecular weight differences between the variant and controls were not detected since the chromatographic profile of the variant was similar to that of the controls in Sepharose 6 B using a 0.02 M Tris-NaCL buffer at pH 7.0. The affinity of the antigen for human antibody was heterogeneous although the variant exhibited less affinity for one of the human antibodies but not the other. The inhibitory effect was more pronounced in serum than in plasma. Purified IGG, however, did not show any inhibition, as the residual antigen assayed by the Laurell technique, was similar to the expected values. This would imply that non-IgG plasmatic factors could also play a part in the observed inhibition.