Due to the development of two-dimensional Fourier transformation techniques (for reviews see Bax, 1982; Ernst et al. 1987), NMR spectroscopy has become a powerful tool for determining the 3D structures of small proteins (MW ≤ 10 kDa); for reviews see Wüthrich, 1986; Clore & Gronenborn, 1987. For larger molecules, however, the amount of detailed structural information that can be obtained using homonuclear 2D NMR techniques is limited because of the vast number of overlapping signals. In order to extend the capabilities of NMR to the study of larger systems, new approaches are required.

In the last few years since the early NMR structural studies of small proteins such as glucagon (Braun et al. 1983) and lac represser headpiece (Zuiderweg et al. 1984) the quality of the structure determinations have improved considerably. Of major importance has been the introduction of phase sensitive detection in the Tl dimension (States et al. 1982; Marion & Wüthrich, 1983) which has allowed for absorption presentation of 2D data with the resulting enhancement in resolution, accuracy of coupling constant measurements and accuracy of peak volume integrations. Introduction of new pulse sequences, advances in instrumentation and further developments in the structure calculation algorithms have also helped improve the quality of NMR structural analyses of proteins.

Antibody molecules secreted by B-lymphocytes play a central role in the immune defense systems of higher organisms. The major function of the antibody molecule is to bind specifically to foreign molecules (antigens) and to effect their inactivation and/or removal. Antibody molecules exist in millions of different forms, each with a unique amino acid sequence and combining site structure. Collectively called immunoglobulins (abbreviated as Ig), they form one of the major classes of proteins present in the blood, constituting 20% of the total plasma protein by weight.