RESUMO
The immunosuppressive cyclic undecapeptide cyclosporine (Cs) represents a useful model for studying the molecular basis of antibody-antigen interactions. The three-dimensional structure of the Cs molecule is known and a large panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to Cs has been well characterized by cross-reactivity studies with numerous Cs analogs. In the present study, the sequences of the variable regions of seven mAbs to Cs were determined and a striking relationship was found between the expressed variable region genes and the Cs recognition pattern. An analysis of the length and hydrophobic content of the hypervariable regions and sequence similarities suggested that the heavy chain plays a major role in Cs recognition. Different fine specificities were observed for mAbs exhibiting identical light chains, while two antibodies differed by only a single amino acid located in the heavy chain. The presence of a duplication of 12 nucleotides within the heavy chain third hypervariable region of two antibodies suggests the existence of an additional mechanism for creating antibody diversity.
Assuntos
Anticorpos Monoclonais/química , Anticorpos Monoclonais/genética , Ciclosporinas/imunologia , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Especificidade de Anticorpos/genética , Sequência de Bases , Rearranjo Gênico de Cadeia Pesada de Linfócito B , Cadeias Pesadas de Imunoglobulinas/química , Cadeias Pesadas de Imunoglobulinas/genética , Cadeias Leves de Imunoglobulina/química , Cadeias Leves de Imunoglobulina/genética , Região Variável de Imunoglobulina/química , Região Variável de Imunoglobulina/genética , Região Variável de Imunoglobulina/fisiologia , Modelos Moleculares , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Família Multigênica , Sequências Repetitivas de Ácido NucleicoRESUMO
In order to study the structural and functional mimicry of an antigen by anti-idiotypic antibodies, we generated anti-idiotopic monoclonal antibodies (anti-Id mAbs) against a mAb (R45-45-11) with specificity for the immunosuppressive cyclic undecapeptide cyclosporine (Cs; Sandimmune). Three out of five anti-Id mAbs inhibited the binding of Cs to the anti-Cs mAb R45-45-11. All anti-Id mAbs cross-reacted only with one (anti-Cs mAb V45-271-10) out of 19 anti-Cs mAbs. The anti-Cs mAb V45-271-10 recognizes an epitope on the Cs molecule which is very similar to that recognized by R45-45-11. R45-45-11 and V45-271-10 differ only by one amino acid in the variable region. The anti-Id mAbs which recognize combining site-associated idiotopes (Ids) reverse the blocking effect of the anti-Cs mAb R45-45-11 on Cs immunosuppression in vitro. The sequences of the variable regions of heavy and light chain of one anti-Id mAb were determined. X-ray analysis of the corresponding Fab fragment, either alone or complexed with the Fab fragment of the Id, is currently in progress.