A simpler sort of antibody.

The monoclonal antibody NEMO is directed against a molecule expressed by human cells of the melanocytic lineage. Although obtained by conventional immunization and fusion procedures, NEMO consists solely of kappa light chain. SDS/PAGE analysis indicates that the kappa chains are present as both monomers and dimers. When these two forms were separated by gel filtration, only the monomeric form bound antigen. As kappa light chains from the myeloma MOPC-41 and the hybridoma MORK do not bind to the melanocytic cells, we conclude that the binding specificity of NEMO resides in the variable region.