[Role of quaternary structure in the antigenic specificity of amino acid derivatives of hemoglobin].

Immunochemical properties of isolated alpha- and beta-chains of aminoenanthyl- and phenylalanyl-hemoglobins were studied by fixation of the complement as compared with the corresponding chains of the native hemoglobin. In spite of the immunochemical differences between Phe-Hb and hemoglobin, the complement fixation ability was shown to be the same in Phe-Hb, AE-Hb and hemoglobin; this phenomenon suggests that formation of the antigenic determinant in Phe-Hb occurs at the level of quaternary structure.