Structural Studies of Two Anti-carbohydrate Antibodies
Author | : Dylan W. Evans |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : |
Release | : 2013 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:883347704 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (04 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: This thesis is focused on determining the structures of two anti-carbohydrate antibodies to understand how they achieve their specificity toward antigen. First, the structure of the antigen-binding fragment from the monoclonal antibody S64-4 in complex with a pentasaccharide bisphosphate fragment from chlamydial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been determined by x-ray diffraction to 2.6 A resolution. Like the well-characterized antibody S25-2, S64-4 displays a pocket formed by the residues of germline sequence corresponding to the heavy and light chain V gene segments that binds the terminal Kdo (3-deoxy-?-D-manno-oct-2-ulopyranosonic acid) residue of the antigen; however, although S64-4 shares the same heavy chain V gene segment as S25-2, it has a different light chain V gene segment. The new light chain V gene segment codes for a combining site that displays greater avidity, different specificity, and allows a novel antigen conformation that brings a greater number of antigen residues into the combining site than possible in S25-2. Further, while antibodies in the S25-2 family use complementarity determining region (CDR) H3 to discriminate among antigens, S64-4 achieves its specificity via the new light chain V genesegment and resulting change in antigen conformation. These structures reveal an intriguing parallel strategy where two different combinations of germline-coded V gene segments can act as starting points for the generation of germline antibodies against chlamydial antigens and show how anti-carbohydrate antibodies can exploit the conformational flexibility of this class of antigens to achieve high avidity and specificity independently of CDR H3. Second, the structure of a rabbit, single chain variable fragment against terminal mannose-6-phosphate (Man6P) residues, termed scFv M6P-1, has been determined by x-ray diffraction to 2.7 A resolution with Man6P in the binding site. The Man6P pathway is the predominant pathway that transports acid hydrolases from the trans-Golgi to endosomes. Newly synthesized hydrolases first require the generation of Man6P markers before they can be transported. Maintaining a full complement of hydrolases within lysosomes is essential as failure to do so results in a number of different lysosomal storage diseases. Due to its specificity, scFv M6P-1 is able to diagnose lysosomal storage diseases mucolipidosis II and mucolipidosis III. scFv M6P-1 is also able to purify Man6P containing proteins which may be useful for enzyme replacement therapies ...