The Structure of Antigens

Clearly specific antibodies, and particularly monoclonal antibodies, may be very useful in probing the properties of adsorbed proteins. Specific antibodies have been used to probe the structure of antigens in solution 88). Consider the adsorption of a simple protein with a small number of reasonably well-defined epitopes (surface sites with antibody binding activity), as in Fig. 19. Clearly epitopes E and A are not accessible for binding, while B, C, and D would be sterically accessible. One could also envision a conformational change upon adsorption which produces an epitope... 

Theoretical interest is directed toward determining the nature of the structures which are responsible for the distinctive biolo cal action of certain proteins. Examples may be found in the numerous researches on the structures of antigens (1), hormones (2, 3), pepsin (4-8), and tobacco mosaic virus (9). However, this work has only just begun. The structure of no protein is well understood. 

The basic structure of all immunoglobulin (Ig) molecules comprises two identical light chains and two identical heavy chains linked together by disulfide bonds (Figure IS.2a). There are two different classes, or isotypes, of light chains, X and k, but there is no known functional distinction between them. Heavy chains, by contrast, have five different isotypes that divide the immunoglobulins into different functional classes IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, and IgE, each with different effector properties in the elimination of antigen... 

Varghese IN, Colman PM (1991) Three-dimensional structure of the neuraminidase of influenza virus A/Tokyo/3/67 at 2.2 A resolution. 1 Mol Biol 221 473 86 Varghese IN, Laver WG, Colman PM (1983) Structure of the influenza virus glycoprotein antigen neuraminidase at 2.9 A resolution. Nature 303 35 0 Varghese IN, McKimm-Breschkin IL, Caldwell IB, Kortt AA, Colman PM (1992) The structure of the complex between influenza virus neuraminidase and sialic acid, the viral receptor. Proteins 14 327-332... 

A structural study on lipid A and the O-specific polysaccharide of the lipopoly-saccharide from a clinical isolate of Bacteroides vulgatus from a patient with Crohn s disease was conducted by Hashimoto and coworkers [39]. They separated two potent virulence factors, capsular polysaccharide (CPS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), from a clinical isolate of B. vulgatus and characterized the structure of CPS. Next, they elucidated the strucmres of O-antigen polysaccharide (OPS) and lipid A in the LPS. LPS was subjected to weak acid hydrolysis to produce the lipid A fraction and polysaccharide fraction. Lipid A was isolated by PLC, and its structure was determined by MS and NMR. 

Xu et al. [5] described the effect of (z>)-penicillamine on the binding of several antiacetylcholine receptor monoclonal antibodies to the Torpedo acetylcholine receptor. Penicillamine is covalently incorporated into the acetylcholine receptor through SS exchange at the cysteine residues of the a-subunit, altering the antigenic structure of the receptor. This effect on the structure of the native receptor at the neuromuscular junction may be responsible for the establishment of the autoimmune response to the acetylcholine receptor in (i))-penicillamine-induced myasthenia gravis. Cysteine and penicillamine interact to form penicillamine-cysteine mixed disulfide complexes [6] ... 

There were a number of practical and theoretical issues to be addressed. A key scientific question was whether fixation in formalin modified antigens in a reversible or irreversible manner. To be more specific, was there any theoretical or prior scientific evidence that the effects of formalin fixation on proteins could be reversed, and if reversed, was the structure of protein restored to a sufficient degree for recovery of antigenicity With these key questions in mind, one of the authors (Shi) spent many days and nights in 1988 searching the chemical literature under somewhat adverse conditions, with a second job as an apprentice in a supermarket, and prior to the increased efficiency of such searches that is afforded today by the Internet and online databases. The answer was finally found in a series of studies of the chemical... 

Apart from reduced yield, down-stream processing can cause minor or even bigger modifications in the structure of the biomolecule. Often, these modifications do not affect the activity of the product, but may change its antigenicity. Along with virus safety, the reduction of such risks is a main objective in the down-stream processing of such biomolecules. Chromatographic purification,... 

The structure of MHC. In the context of antigen recognition by T cells, we are primarily concerned with class I and II MHC molecules. Class III MHC are essentially a part of the complement system. Class I molecules are made up of transmembrane heavy-chain peptide, which is noncovalently associated with the B2 microglobulin (B2m) molecule. Class II, on the other hand, is composed of two smaller transmembrane peptide chains, a and p. The peptides are arranged in domains that are of comparable size to those of the immunoglobulin molecules. 

Compare and contrast the different types of antibody immunoglobulins. Provide a detailed description of the structure of the IgG antibody with particular reference to how it binds to antigens. 

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