| Abstract: | Most continuous antigenic determinants of tobacco mosaic virus protein (TMVP), myoglobin and lysozyme correspond to those surface regions in the protein structure, as determined by X-ray crystallography, which possess a run of high-temperature factors along the polypeptide backbone, that is, a high segmental mobility. The mobility of an antigenic determinant may make it easier to adjust to a pre-existing antibody site not fashioned to fit the exact geometry of a protein. The correlation found between temperature factors and antigenicity is better than that between hydrophilicity and antigenicity. |
