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biochemist. In 1962 he proposed a structure for human immunoglobulin (antibody)
in which the molecule was seen as consisting of four chains. He was awarded
the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Porter was born in Liverpool and studied there and at Cambridge. He became professor of immunology at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, 1960; from 1967 he was professor of biochemistry at Oxford. Basing his research on the work of US immunologist Karl Landsteiner, Porter studied the structural basis of the biological activities of antibodies, proposing in 1962 a structure for gamma-globulin. He also worked on the structure, assembly, and activation mechanisms of the components of a substance known as complement. This is a protein that is normally present in the blood, but disappears from the serum during most antigen-antibody reactions. In addition, Porter investigated the way in which immunoglobulins interact with complement components and with cell surfaces. |