Precise determination of the entire antigenic structure of lysozyme: Molecular features of protein antigenic structures and potential of ‘surface-simulation’ synthesis—a powerful new concept for protein binding sites

Abstract

Intensive research in the author's laboratory over a 10-year period has now culminated in the precise determination of the entire antigenic structure of native hen egg-white lysozyme. This is the second antigenic structure of a protein to be precisely defined, the first one being that of sperm-whale myoglobin which was reported by this author in 1975. The antigenic structures of the two proteins are compared and contrasted. The novel and unorthodox concept of ‘surface-simulation’ synthesis which we introduced and developed during the definition of the antigenic sites of lysozyme is described and its powerful implications and potential in protein chemistry and immunochemistry are outlined.