Antibody thermodynamic parameters

Table 1 Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters for the spontaneous, enzyme-catalysed and antibody-catalysed conversion of chorismic acid [23] into prephenic acid [24],...

Hilvert s group used the same hapten [26] with a different spacer to generate an antibody catalyst which has very different thermodynamic parameters. It has a high entropy of activation but an enthalpy lower than that of the wild-type enzyme (Table 1, Antibody 1F7, Appendix entry 13.2a) (Hilvert et al., 1988 Hilvert and Nared, 1988). Wilson has determined an X-ray crystal structure for the Fab fragment of this antibody in a binary complex with its TSA (Haynes et al., 1994) which shows that amino acid residues in the active site of the antibody catalyst faithfully complement the components of the conformationally ordered transition state analogue (Fig. 11) while a trapped water molecule is probably responsible for the adverse entropy of activation. Thus it appears that antibodies have emulated enzymes in finding contrasting solutions to the same catalytic problem. 

Previously, we and others have commented on the similarities and differences between patterns of saccharide association for lectins and antibodies [3]. Unfortunately, the database of thermodynamic parameters for antibody-carbohydrate complexation remains small. While important structural and energetic differences may exist that provide clues to the origin of both affinity and association in aqueous solution, it is impossible to reach any conclusions at this time. 

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