A structural framework for deciphering the link between I-Ag7 and autoimmune diabetes.

Susceptibility to murine and human insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus correlates strongly with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II I-A or HLA-DQ alleles that lack an aspartic acid at position beta57. I-Ag7 lacks this aspartate and is the only class II allele expressed by the nonobese diabetic mouse. The crystal structure of I-Ag7 was determined at 2.6 angstrom resolution as a complex with a high-affinity peptide from the autoantigen glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65. I-Ag7 has a substantially wider peptide-binding groove around beta57, which accounts for distinct peptide preferences compared with other MHC class II alleles. Loss of Asp(beta57) leads to an oxyanion hole in I-Ag7 that can be filled by peptide carboxyl residues or, perhaps, through interaction with the T cell receptor.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the Fab fragment of a human monoclonal IgM rheumatoid factor (2A2).

Crystals of the Fab fragment of a human monoclonal IgM rheumatoid factor have been obtained and are suitable for X-ray structure determination. This molecule, derived from the synovial B cells of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, is an autoantibody with specificity for IgG Fc. The crystals have space group P2(1), cell dimensions a = 69.0 A, b = 76.6 A, c = 98.8 A and beta = 90.6 degrees, and diffract to a resolution of at least 2.8 A.

The structure of a human rheumatoid factor bound to IgG Fc.

This is the first crystal structure analysis of a complex between an autoantibody and its autoantigen, and it reveals a mode of interaction never before seen in an antibody-antigen complex. Not only are there relatively few antibody contact residues, contributing perhaps to its very low affinity, but these residues are to be found on only one side of the potential combining site surface. Indeed, so many CDR residues are not involved in Fc binding, including those in the central region of the combining site, that it is easy to envisage that this RF may have another, entirely different, specificity. The antibody may therefore have originated in response to another, as yet unidentified, antigen, and the reactivity with IgG Fc may be an unfortunate cross-reactivity. Certainly some of the CDR residues which do interact with IgG Fc are germline encoded, but significantly one of only two residues in the light chain, Pro56, which makes many contacts with Fc, is a somatic mutation. Since this mutation would appear to make a significant contribution to the binding affinity, it is therefore evidence for an antigen driven response to the IgG Fc in the generation of this autoantibody. The Fc epitope recognised by RF-AN is strikingly similar to the binding sites for the bacterial binding proteins A and G, but the significance of this is not clear. What is clear however is that the epitope does not include any part of the Fc carbohydrate residues, although the structure of the complex does reveal that there is an alteration in the carbohydrate conformation when the galactose residues are absent. Loss of the interaction between the terminal galactose residue on the alpha (1-6) linked branch and the C gamma 2 domain appears to allow the carbohydrate chains to become mobile, at the same time exposing a predominantly hydrophobic patch on the C gamma 2 surface. Accessibility to either the agalactosyl carbohydrate chains or the newly exposed residues may account for the enhanced reactivity for G0-IgG that has been reported for certain RFs, and such an epitope need not be very different to that recognised by RF-AN. In order to understand more completely the effect of the presence or absence of the terminal galactose residue, the fully galactosylated glycoform of Fc must be studied for comparison; this work is underway. It is also important now to study a RF which is known to sense this difference in oligosaccharide composition, and also to study RFs of higher affinity, of the IgG class, and from the synovium. RF-AN was the first RF to be immortalised as a cell line, and in many ways it is a typical RF (in terms of specificity, relationship to germline sequence and affinity), but we must now establish whether the novel structural features revealed in this analysis are indeed typical of other RFs. Only when comparisons can be made between RFs of different origin and with contrasting functional properties will we begin to understand what constitutes a pathogenic RF, and the mechanism by which such auto-reactive antibodies are generated.

Anti-anti-idiotypic (Ab3) antibodies that bind progesterone-11alpha-bovine serum albumin differ in their combining sites from antibodies raised directly against the antigen.

Polyclonal rabbit anti-idiotypic (Ab2) antibodies raised against the antiprogesterone mAb DB3 (Ab1) were used to induce an Ab3 antiprogesterone response in BALB/c mice. While the affinity of Ab3 sera for progesterone was 10-50-times lower than that of DB3, their steroid-binding specificity showed considerable similarity to DB3. Two immunoglobulin M (IgM) Ab3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 1A4 and 3B11, were obtained, both of which bound progesterone conjugated to bovine serum albumin (progesterone-BSA). 1A4 also bound free progesterone, although with low affinity and very broad cross-reactivity. Like DB3, 1A4 is encoded by a heavy-chain variable region (VH) gene segment from the small VGAM3.8 family, a restriction that is characteristic of antibodies raised against progesterone-11alpha-BSA. In contrast, 3B11 binds progesterone-11alpha-BSA but not free progesterone and is encoded by an unrelated VH gene from the J558 family. The light chain variable region (VL) of 1A4 lacks the intradomain disulphide bridge owing to replacement of CysL23 by Tyr. Both the 1A4 and 3B11 heavy chains have extremely short complementarity determining region (CDR) H3 loops, comprising three and four amino acids, respectively. Modelling of the combining site of 1A4 from the X-ray crystallographic structure of DB3 indicates that the short H3 loop is a major factor in the loss of affinity and specificity for steroid.

The I-Ag7 MHC class II molecule linked to murine diabetes is a promiscuous peptide binder.

Susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is linked to MHC class II genes. The only MHC class II molecule expressed by nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, I-Ag7, shares a common alpha-chain with I-Ad but has a peculiar beta-chain. As with most beta-chain alleles linked to diabetes susceptibility, I-Ag7 contains a nonaspartic residue at position beta57. We have produced large amounts of empty I-Ag7 molecules using a fly expression system to characterize its biochemical properties and peptide binding by phage-displayed peptide libraries. The identification of a specific binding peptide derived from glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) has allowed us to crystallize and obtain the three-dimensional structure of I-Ag7. Structural information was critical in evaluating the binding studies. I-Ag7, like I-Ad, appears to be very promiscuous in terms of peptide binding. Their binding motifs are degenerate and contain small and/or small hydrophobic residues at P4 and P6 of the peptide, a motif frequently found in most globular proteins. The degree of promiscuity is increased for I-Ag7 over I-Ad as a consequence of a larger P9 pocket that can specifically accommodate negatively charged residues, as well as possibly residues with bulky side chains. So, although I-Ad and I-Ag7 are structurally closely related, stable molecules and good peptide binders, they differ functionally in their ability to bind significantly different peptide repertoires that are heavily influenced by the presence or the absence of a negatively charged residue at position 57 of the beta-chain. These characteristics link I-Ag7 with autoimmune diseases, such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Structure of human IgM rheumatoid factor Fab bound to its autoantigen IgG Fc reveals a novel topology of antibody-antigen interaction.

Rheumatoid factors are the characteristic autoantibodies of rheumatoid arthritis, which bind to the Fc regions of IgG molecules. Here we report the crystal structure of the Fab fragment of a patient-derived IgM rheumatoid factor (RF-AN) complexed with human IgG4 Fc, at 3.2 A resolution. This is the first structure of an autoantibody-autoantigen complex. The epitope recognised in IgG Fc includes the C gamma 2/C gamma 3 cleft region, and overlaps the binding sites of bacterial Fc-binding proteins. The antibody residues involved in autorecognition are all located at the edge of the conventional combining site surface, leaving much of the latter available, potentially, for recognition of a different antigen. Since an important contact residue is somatic mutation, the structure implicates antigen-driven selection, following somatic mutation of germline genes, in the production of pathogenic rheumatoid factors.

Crystallization of a complex between the Fab fragment of a human immunoglobulin M (IgM) rheumatoid factor (RF-AN) and the Fc fragment of human IgG4.

Rheumatoid factors (RF) are the characteristic autoantibodies found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. They recognize epitopes in the Fc region of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and are often of the IgM isotype. In order to analyse the nature of RF-Fc interactions, we have crystallized a complex between the Fab fragment of a human monoclonal IgM rheumatoid factor (RF-AN) and the Fc fragment of human IgG4. The stoichiometry of the complex within the crystals was found to be 2:1 Fab:Fc. The crystals diffracted X-rays to 0.3 nm resolution, and the space group was C2, with cell dimensions a = 16.03 nm, b = 8.19 nm, c = 6.42 nm, beta = 98.3 degrees. We have also determined the sequence of the variable region of the RF-AN light chain, not hitherto reported. This belongs to the V lambda III-a subgroup and is closely related to the germline gene Humlv318, from which it differs in three amino acid residues. This is the first reported crystallized complex between a human autoantibody and its autoantigen.

Crystal structure of a Staphylococcus aureus protein A domain complexed with the Fab fragment of a human IgM antibody: structural basis for recognition of B-cell receptors and superantigen activity.

Staphylococcus aureus produces a virulence factor, protein A (SpA), that contains five homologous Ig-binding domains. The interactions of SpA with the Fab region of membrane-anchored Igs can stimulate a large fraction of B cells, contributing to lymphocyte clonal selection. To understand the molecular basis for this activity, we have solved the crystal structure of the complex between domain D of SpA and the Fab fragment of a human IgM antibody to 2.7-A resolution. In the complex, helices II and III of domain D interact with the variable region of the Fab heavy chain (V(H)) through framework residues, without the involvement of the hypervariable regions implicated in antigen recognition. The contact residues are highly conserved in human V(H)3 antibodies but not in other families. The contact residues from domain D also are conserved among all SpA Ig-binding domains, suggesting that each could bind in a similar manner. Features of this interaction parallel those reported for staphylococcal enterotoxins that are superantigens for many T cells. The structural homology between Ig V(H) regions and the T-cell receptor V(beta) regions facilitates their comparison, and both types of interactions involve lymphocyte receptor surface remote from the antigen binding site. However, T-cell superantigens reportedly interact through hydrogen bonds with T-cell receptor V(beta) backbone atoms in a primary sequence-independent manner, whereas SpA relies on a sequence-restricted conformational binding with residue side chains, suggesting that this common bacterial pathogen has adopted distinct molecular recognition strategies for affecting large sets of B and T lymphocytes.

Crystal structure of the anti-(carcinoembryonic antigen) single-chain Fv antibody MFE-23 and a model for antigen binding based on intermolecular contacts.

MFE-23 is the first single-chain Fv antibody molecule to be used in patients and is used to target colorectal cancer through its high affinity for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a cell-surface member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. MFE-23 contains an N-terminal variable heavy-chain domain joined by a (Gly(4)Ser)(3) linker to a variable light-chain (V(L)) domain (kappa chain) with an 11-residue C-terminal Myc-tag. Its crystal structure was determined at 2.4 A resolution by molecular replacement with an R(cryst) of 19.0%. Five of the six antigen-binding loops, L1, L2, L3, H1 and H2, conformed to known canonical structures. The sixth loop, H3, displayed a unique structure, with a beta-hairpin loop and a bifurcated apex characterized by a buried Thr residue. In the crystal lattice, two MFE-23 molecules were associated back-to-back in a manner not seen before. The antigen-binding site displayed a large acidic region located mainly within the H2 loop and a large hydrophobic region within the H3 loop. Even though this structure is unliganded within the crystal, there is an unusually large region of contact between the H1, H2 and H3 loops and the beta-sheet of the V(L) domain of an adjacent molecule (strands DEBA) as a result of intermolecular packing. These interactions exhibited remarkably high surface and electrostatic complementarity. Of seven MFE-23 residues predicted to make contact with antigen, five participated in these lattice contacts, and this model for antigen binding is consistent with previously reported site-specific mutagenesis of MFE-23 and its effect on CEA binding.