Hi. I am currently studying the IgA protease of the pathogenic bacterium
Neisseria meningitidis. It is known to cleave only human IgA1 and primates
IgA therefore I am interested in the following questions: Since they only
differ in 20 of the approx. 330 aa comprising the alpha chain, is there a
functional difference between both human IgAs (IgA1 and IgA2)?. Do cells
expressing them are somehow different or react to different interleukins or
anything else?. Do other primates or animals have also two or more IgAs?.
Any comments or literature references will be appreciated. Thanks a lot.
Jesus del Valle
