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Immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain (H), variable (V) domain The members here are composed of the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain (H), variable (V) domain. This group contains the standard Ig superfamily V-set AGFCC'C"/DEB domain topology. The basic structure of Ig molecules is a tetramer of two light chains and two heavy chains linked by disulfide bonds. In Ig, each chain is composed of one variable domain (IgV) and one or more constant domains (IgC); these names reflect the fact that the variability in sequences is higher in the variable domain than in the constant domain. There are five types of heavy chains (alpha, gamma, delta, epsilon, and mu), which determines the type of immunoglobulin formed: IgA, IgG, IgD, IgE, and IgM, respectively. In higher vertebrates, there are two types of light chain, designated kappa and lambda, which can associate with any of the heavy chains. This family includes alpha, gamma, delta, epsilon, and mu heavy chains.
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