| Abstract: | Biochemical and immunochemical properties of human alpha 2-macroglobulin and its analogues from cattle, horse, rabbit, guinea pig, rat, mouse, hen and perch have been investigated. It was found that all analogues have the identical molecular mass and structure, being different in their isoelectric point and carbohydrate composition. It was shown that some antigenic properties of macroglobulins remained constant during evolution, whereas other ones were strictly differentiated at the level of families and species. These data allow to classify macroglobulins as proteins which appeared in vertebrates at early stages of evolution revealing only relatively slight changes during the latter. |
