Human complement receptor type 1 (CR1) binds to a major malarial adhesin.

Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), a major adhesin molecule expressed on Plasmodium-falciparum-infected erythrocytes, interacts with several receptors on endothelial cells and uninfected erythrocytes. This 'stickiness', known as rosetting, is a strategy used by the parasite to remain sequestered in the microvasculature to avoid destruction in the spleen and liver. Erythrocyte rosetting causes obstruction of the blood flow in microcapillaries. Recent data suggest a direct interaction between PfEMP1 and a functional site of complement receptor type 1 (CR1; CD35) on uninfected erythrocytes. Consistent with the hypothesis that CR1 is important in malaria pathogenesis is a 40-70-fold increase in the frequency of two CR1 blood-group antigens (at least one of which might rosette less efficiently) in malaria-exposed African populations. Furthermore, structural differences in erythrocyte CR1 between human and non-human primates are probably explained by the selective pressure of malaria.

Synergy between two active sites of human complement receptor type 1 (CD35) in complement regulation: implications for the structure of the classical pathway C3 convertase and generation of more potent inhibitors.

The extracellular domain of the complement receptor type 1 (CR1; CD35) consists entirely of 30 complement control protein repeats (CCPs). CR1 has two distinct functional sites, site 1 (CCPs 1-3) and two copies of site 2 (CCPs 8-10 and CCPs 15-17). In this report we further define the structural requirements for decay-accelerating activity (DAA) for the classical pathway (CP) C3 and C5 convertases and, using these results, generate more potent decay accelerators. Previously, we demonstrated that both sites 1 and 2, tandemly arranged, are required for efficient DAA for C5 convertases. We show that site 1 dissociates the CP C5 convertase, whereas the role of site 2 is to bind the C3b subunit. The intervening CCPs between two functional sites are required for optimal DAA, suggesting that a spatial orientation of the two sites is important. DAA for the CP C3 convertase is increased synergistically if two copies of site 1, particularly those carrying DAA-increasing mutations, are contained within one protein. DAA in such constructs may exceed that of long homologous repeat A (CCPs 1-7) by up to 58-fold. To explain this synergy, we propose a dimeric structure for the CP C3 convertase on cell surfaces. We also extended our previous studies of the amino acid requirements for DAA of site 1 and found that the CCP 1/CCP 2 junction is critical and that Phe82 may contact the C3 convertases. These observations increase our understanding of the mechanism of DAA. In addition, a more potent decay-accelerating form of CR1 was generated.

Polychromatic selective population inversion for TROSY experiments with large proteins.

This paper presents polychromatic selective polarization inversion (PC-SPI) as an alternative to the polarization transfer methods recently developed for the application of NMR to large biological molecules. Theoretical and numerical considerations indicate that PC-SPI has the potential for more efficient polarization transfer under conditions of rapid transverse relaxation compared to J coupling- and cross-correlated relaxation-based transfers. The main advantage offered by the method presented here is the maintenance of near-optimal trajectories of inversion of the individual components of the spin magnetization while using broadband optimized pulses. A 2D experiment was implemented combining PC-SPI with TROSY-based chemical shift correlation. The experiment was applied to detect (15)N-(1)H chemical shift correlation spectra of a 200 kDa complex consisting of an 80% (2)H- and uniformly (15)N,(13)C-labeled 22 kDa portion of complement receptor type 1 and unlabeled C3b of complement (180 kDa).

Structure of the C3b binding site of CR1 (CD35), the immune adherence receptor.

Complement receptor type 1 (CR1 or CD35) is a multiple modular protein that mediates the immune adherence phenomenon, a fundamental event for destroying microbes and initiating an immunological response. It fulfills this role through binding C3b/C4b-opsonized foreign antigens. The structure of the principal C3b/C4b binding site (residues 901-1095) of CR1 is reported, revealing three complement control protein modules (modules 15-17) in an extended head-to-tail arrangement with flexibility at the 16-17 junction. Structure-guided mutagenesis identified a positively charged surface region on module 15 that is critical for C4b binding. This patch, together with basic side chains of module 16 exposed on the same face of CR1, is required for C3b binding. These studies reveal the initial structural details of one of the first receptor-ligand interactions to be identified in immunobiology.