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Activity No. 6

Antibody Structure

MATERIALS
 2 whole pipe cleaners (chenille stems) of the same color (heavy chain
segments)
 1 pipe cleaner (chenille stem) cut into 2 pieces (light chain segments)
 1 “sparkle” pipe cleaner (chenille stem) cut into 4 pieces (disulfide bonds)
 Container of colored beads to use as VDJ segments

PROCEDURE

Part One: Building the heavy and light chains

a. Select 4 chenille stems:
i. Two of the same color (heavy chains)
ii. One of a color different from the heavy chains (will become light
chains)
iii. One “sparkle” pipe cleaner (will become disulfide bonds)
b. Lay the two same-colored pipe cleaners side by side on a desk.
c. Cut the third pipe cleaner in half and lay alongside the outside of the
two large ones aligned at the top.
d. Cut the “sparkle” pipe cleaner into 4 even pieces – use two pieces to
join the heavy chains together at the lower half (the “constant region”)
of the pipe cleaners, and one to join each light chain to a heavy chain.
e. Bend the heavy chains apart in a “Y” shape.

Part Two: Modeling VDJ recombination

a. Randomly choose three colored beads from the container, then, select
the same three colors again so they have a pair of each– each colored
bead represents one V, one D, and one J segment on the heavy chain.
b. Place three of the beads in a row on the variable region of one of the
heavy chains, then, create the same pattern of beads on the other
heavy chain variable region.
c. Randomly choose two more beads from the container (these represent
the V and J segments on the light chain), place them on the end of the
light chain. Repeat with the same two colors for the second light chain
variable region so that both light chains match.