IgGs containing light chains of the lambda and kappa type and of all subclasses (IgG1-IgG4) from sera of patients with multiple sclerosis hydrolyze DNA.

We present the first evidence demonstrating that small fractions of IgGs of all four subclasses (IgG1-IgG4) are catalytically active in the hydrolysis of DNA and on average their relative activity (nM supercoiled DNA/1mg IgG/1 h) increases in the order: IgG1 (0.58) < IgG2 (0.94) < IgG3 (1.4) < IgG4 (4.1), while their approximate relative contribution to the total activity of abzymes increases in the order: IgG1 (6.9%) < IgG3 (9.3%) < IgG2 (18.2%) < IgG4 (65.6%). On average IgGs containing light chains of the lambda-type are severalfold more active in the hydrolysis of DNA than IgGs with light chains of the kappa-type. Using different physicochemical methods of antibody analysis we have shown that the immune system of multiple sclerosis patients generates a variety of anti-DNA abzymes of different type and with different catalytic properties, which can play an important role in multiple sclerosis pathogenesis.