Subunit communication in the anthranilate synthase complex from Salmonella typhimurium

The anthranilate synthase-phosphoribosyl transferase complex of the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway in Salmonella typhimurium is an allosteric, heterotetrameric (TrpE2-TrpD2) enzyme whose multiple activities are negatively feedback-regulated by L-tryptophan. A hybrid complex containing one catalytically active, feedback-insensitive and one catalytically inactive, feedback-sensitive mutant TrpE subunit was assembled in vitro and used to investigate communication between regulatory and catalytic sites located on different subunits. The properties of the hybrid complex demonstrate that the binding of a single inhibitor molecule to one TrpE subunit is sufficient for the propagation of a conformational change that affects the active site of the companion subunit.     

杂交竹梢枯病菌毒素蛋白的质膜结合位点

为探明杂交竹梢枯病菌毒素蛋白的质膜结合位点及在不同品种的结合活性,在低压层析分离纯化毒素蛋白的基础上,以该蛋白免疫新西兰大白兔制备毒素特异性抗血清,并将该蛋白用不同浓度的抗体吸附后处理杂交竹幼嫩枝条。结果表明:毒素所引起的症状有不同程度的减轻,说明所制备的抗体在与毒素发生特异性免疫学反应的同时,可部分封闭毒素分子上与毒素受体结合的位点;利用竞争酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)测定杂交竹嫩枝的质膜制剂与毒素蛋白的结合活性显示,质膜制剂与毒素结合后能部分阻断毒素与其抗体的免疫学反应,即质膜制剂中含有毒素的结合位点,且不同品种的结合活性有差异;用胰蛋白酶或加热处理质膜制剂后,质膜制剂对毒素与其抗体反应的抑制作用消失,证实质膜制剂中与毒素结合的是蛋白类物质。     

Analysis of junctional diversity during B lymphocyte development

Immunoglobulin rearrangement is central to generating antibody diversity because of heterogeneity generated during recombination by deletion or addition of nucleotides at coding joints by the recombinase machinery. Examination of these junctional modifications revealed that the addition of nongermline-encoded nucleotides was more prevalent in adult versus fetal B cells, thus partially limiting the fetal antibody repertoire. In contrast, deletion of nucleotides occurs equivalently in B cells at different stages of development and at different points in B cell ontogeny. Finally, the bias in murine immunoglobulins for one DH segment reading frame occurs at the DHJH intermediate.     

Developmentally controlled expression of immunoglobulin VH genes

Although antibody diversity arises mainly from apparently random combinatorial and somatic mutational mechanisms acting upon a limited number of germline antibody genes, the antibody repertoire develops in an ordered fashion during mammalian ontogeny. A series of early pre-B and B-lymphocyte cell lines were examined to determine whether an ordered rearrangement of gene families of the variable region of immunoglobulin heavy chains (VH) may be the basis for the programmed development of the antibody response. The results indicated that the VH repertoire of fetal B-lineage cells is largely restricted to the VH 7183 gene family and that subsequent recruitment of additional VH gene families occurs during neonatal development. These results have important implications in understanding the ontogeny of immune function.     

Metalloantibodies

A metalloantibody has been constructed with a coordination site for metals in the antigen binding pocket. The Zn(II) binding site from carbonic anhydrase B was used as a model. Three histidine residues have been placed in the light chain complementarity determining regions of a single chain antibody molecule. In contrast to the native protein, the mutant displayed metal-dependent fluorescence-quenching behavior. This response was interpreted as evidence for metal binding in the three-histidine site with relative affinities in the order Cu(II) greater than Zn(II) greater than Cd(II). The presence of metal cofactors in immunoglobulins should facilitate antibody catalysis of redox and hydrolytic reactions.     

Contribution of receptor editing to the antibody repertoire

Receptor editing, clonal deletion, and anergy are the mechanisms by which B cells maintain tolerance to self antigens. To determine the extent to which receptor editing shapes the normal antibody repertoire, we generated an immunoglobulin kappa polymorphism that facilitates the detection of editing of immunoglobulin light chains in vivo. We found that B cells are targeted for editing during a 2-hour delay in development at the pre-BII cell stage, and that about 25% of all antibody molecules are produced by gene replacement. These results suggest that receptor editing represents a major force in shaping the antibody repertoire.     

路由器组网与网络绑定协议

一个办公室或者一个小型场所,可以由一个路由器来组建一个小型网络。路由器组建网络可以由因特网服务供应商提供的一条进户线,作为路由器的WAN或者LAN的进户线,组建路由器网络的小型场所的小型网络。网络连接由拨号软件以厦软件绑定网络通讯协议所组成,不同的网络类型绑定不同的网络通讯协议。     

Assembly of a functional immunoglobulin Fv fragment in Escherichia coli

An expression system was developed that allows the production of a completely functional antigen-binding fragment of an antibody in Escherichia coli. The variable domains of the phosphorylcholine-binding antibody McPC603 were secreted together into the periplasmic space, where protein folding as well as heterodimer association occurred correctly. Thus, the assembly pathway for the Fv fragment in E. coli is similar to that of a whole antibody in the eukaryotic cell. The Fv fragment of McPC603 was purified to homogeneity with an antigen-affinity column in a single step. The correct processing of both signal sequences was confirmed by amino-terminal protein sequencing. The functionality of the recombinant Fv fragment was demonstrated by equilibrium dialysis. These experiments showed that the affinity constant of the Fv fragment is identical to that of the native antibody McPC603, that there is one binding site for phosphorylcholine in the Fv fragment, and that there is no inactive protein in the preparation. This expression system should facilitate future protein engineering experiments on antibodies.     

Pen a 1表位抗原多克隆抗体的制备及鉴定

【目的】建立一种识别、检测致敏蛋白的新方法。【方法】Pen a 1为虾中主要的致敏蛋白,从其5个主要IgE结合区中选择一段具有代表性的（85—105位）含21个氨基酸的多肽序列,进行化学合成,将多肽分别与匙孔血蓝蛋白（KLH）和牛血清白蛋白（BSA）偶联,制得免疫原和包被原,免疫原免疫新西兰纯种白兔得到多克隆抗体。以刀额新对虾蛋白、卵清蛋白、花生蛋白和牛奶蛋白为样品,免疫印迹鉴定多克隆抗体对刀额新对虾中Pen a 1蛋白的特异性。【结果】经Ellman试剂测定多肽与KLH、BSA的偶联比分别为 12﹕1和8﹕1。间接非竞争ELISA测定多克隆抗体的效价达1.024×106,间接竞争ELISA(icELISA)测定该多克隆抗体对多肽的IC50和IC10分别为0.4324 μg•mL-1和0.0004 μg•mL-1,表明多克隆抗体对多肽具有较强的灵敏性。免疫印迹试验结果表明,此多克隆抗体仅可识别刀额新对虾蛋白中的Pen a 1蛋白,对所选其它物种蛋白无响应。【结论】通过人工合成多肽制备的抗体可用于目标致敏蛋白质的检测分析,该方法快捷灵敏,且具有较高的特异性。     

Antibody-mediated bacteriorhodopsin orientation for molecular device architectures

A rational method for constructing highly oriented films of purple membrane (PM) has been established by using two kinds of bispecific antibodies with different antigen-binding sites, one binding to a specific side of bacteriorhodopsin and the other to a phospholipid hapten. A hapten monolayer deposited on a metal electrode was treated with a bispecific antibody solution and incubated with a PM suspension to produce a highly oriented PM film, as confirmed by electron microscopy in which an immunogold labeling technique was used. This antibody-mediated PM monolayer was then used in the construction of a light-sensing photoelectric device. A comparison of the two incorporated PM monolayers showed that highly efficient photocurrents were produced by the PM monolayer whose unidirectionally oriented cytoplasmic surface faces the electrode.     

Recombinant interferon enhances monoclonal antibody-targeting of carcinoma lesions in vivo

Heterogeneity in the expression of tumor-associated antigens, as defined by the binding of monoclonal antibodies, is a characteristic common to most, if not all, human carcinoma cell populations. Antigen-negative cells within the population can escape detection and therapy by their failure to bind the appropriate antibody. Therefore, the extent of antigenic heterogeneity is an important consideration when designing protocols for the management of cancer by administration of monoclonal antibodies. One approach to counteracting the effect of antigenic heterogeneity is the use of clone A of recombinant human leukocyte interferon (Hu-IFN-alpha A). Administration of Hu-IFN-alpha A in vivo effectively increased the amount of tumor antigen expressed by a human colon xenograft in situ and augmented the localization of a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody to the tumor site. Concomitant administration of Hu-IFN-alpha A and monoclonal antibody may thus be effective in overcoming the antigenic heterogeneity of carcinoma cell populations and in enhancing the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies in the detection and treatment of carcinoma lesions.     

The need for central and peripheral tolerance in the B cell repertoire

The immune system normally avoids producing antibodies that react with autologous ("self") antigens by censoring self-reactive T and B cells. Unlike the T cell repertoire, antibody diversity is generated within the B cell repertoire in two phases; the first occurs by gene rearrangement in primary lymphoid organs, and the second phase involves antigen-driven hypermutation in peripheral lymphoid organs. The possibility that distinct cellular mechanisms may impose self tolerance at these two different phases of B cell diversification may explain recent findings in transgenic mouse models, in which self-reactive B cells appear to be silenced both by functional inactivation and by physical elimination.     

Reshaping human antibodies: grafting an antilysozyme activity

The production of therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies by hybridoma technology has proved difficult, and this has prompted the "humanizing" of mouse monoclonal antibodies by recombinant DNA techniques. It was shown previously that the binding site for a small hapten could be grafted from the heavy-chain variable domain of a mouse antibody to that of a human myeloma protein by transplanting the hypervariable loops. It is now shown that a large binding site for a protein antigen (lysozyme) can also be transplanted from mouse to human heavy chain. The success of such constructions may be facilitated by an induced-fit mechanism.     

Location and chemical synthesis of a binding site for HIV-1 on the CD4 protein

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) uses the CD4 protein as a receptor for infection of susceptible cells. A candidate structure for the HIV-1 binding site on the CD4 protein was identified by epitope mapping with a family of eight functionally distinct CD4-specific monoclonal antibodies in conjunction with a panel of large CD4-derived synthetic peptides. All of the seven epitopes that were located reside within two immunoglobulin-like disulfide loops situated between residues 1 and 168 of the CD4 protein. The CD4-specific monoclonal antibody OKT4A, a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 binding, recognized a site between residues 32 and 47 on the CD4 protein. By analogy to other members of the immunoglobulin superfamily of proteins, this particular region has been predicted to exist as a protruding loop. A synthetic analog of this loop (residues 25 to 58) showed a concentration-dependent inhibition of HIV-1-induced cell fusion. It is proposed that a loop extending from residues 37 to 53 of the CD4 protein is a binding site for the AIDS virus.     

Epitopes of the CD4 antigen and HIV infection

The CD4 (or T4) surface antigen of human T lymphocytes is an important part of the receptor for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). After binding to the receptor, the HIV may enter the T cell and induce the formation of syncytia. In an attempt to identify the receptor site more closely, monoclonal antibodies (Mab's) to CD4 were tested for their ability to block HIV infection in a syncytium formation assay, and the CD4 epitopes so identified were mapped by antibody cross-blocking. The antibodies that showed strong inhibition of HIV fell into two main families while a third group of Mab's blocked syncytia formation weakly or not at all. Several different isolates of HIV as well as the laboratory strain CBL1 grown in CEM cells were used to induce the syncytia. The data indicate that only some epitopes of CD4 are important for virus binding and imply that the virus-binding site for CD4 is conserved in different isolates of HIV with substantially divergent env gene sequences. Preliminary studies of patients suggest that polymorphism of these epitopes does not play a role in determining susceptibility to infection.     

Autologous peptides constitutively occupy the antigen binding site on Ia

Low molecular weight material associated with affinity-purified class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules of mouse (Ia) had the expected properties of peptides bound to the antigen binding site of Ia. Thus, the low molecular weight material derived from the I-Ad isotype was efficient in inhibiting the binding of 125I-labeled I-Ad-specific peptide to I-Ad, but did not significantly inhibit the binding of an I-Ed-specific peptide to I-Ed; the reciprocal isotype-specific inhibition was demonstrated with low molecular weight material derived from I-Ed. The inhibitory material was predominantly peptide in nature, as shown by its susceptibility to protease digestion. It was heterogeneous as measured by gel filtration (mean molecular weight approximately 3000), and when characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography, it eluted over a wide concentration of solvent. Such self peptide-MHC complexes may have broad significance in the biology of T cell responses, including generation of the T cell repertoire, the specificity of mixed lymphocyte responses, and the immune surveillance of self and nonself antigens in peripheral lymphoid tissues.     

Specific binding activity of isolated light chains of antibodies

Free light chains isolated from specifically purified antibody have been shown to bind specific hapten. This proves that part of the binding site does exist on the light chain. The light chains were obtained from antibody directed against the 4-azonaphthalene-1-sulfonate group, and the binding of the simple hapten 4-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate was determined by the fluorescence-enhancement technique. Since this hapten undergoes a striking increase in fluorescence on binding to light chains (and also on binding to specific antibody), the presence of small amounts of bound hapten could be determined, even in the presence of the high concentrations of unbound hapten required because of the low binding constant.     

Three-dimensional structure of an oncogene protein: catalytic domain of human c-H-ras p21

The crystal structure at 2.7 A resolution of the normal human c-H-ras oncogene protein lacking a flexible carboxyl-terminal 18 residue reveals that the protein consists of a six-stranded beta sheet, four alpha helices, and nine connecting loops. Four loops are involved in interactions with bound guanosine diphosphate: one with the phosphates, another with the ribose, and two with the guanine base. Most of the transforming proteins (in vivo and in vitro) have single amino acid substitutions at one of a few key positions in three of these four loops plus one additional loop. The biological functions of the remaining five loops and other exposed regions are at present unknown. However, one loop corresponds to the binding site for a neutralizing monoclonal antibody and another to a putative "effector region"; mutations in the latter region do not alter guanine nucleotide binding or guanosine triphosphatase activity but they do reduce the transforming activity of activated proteins. The data provide a structural basis for understanding the known biochemical properties of normal as well as activated ras oncogene proteins and indicate additional regions in the molecule that may possibly participate in other cellular functions.     

An opiate binding site in the rat brain is highly selective for 4,5-epoxymorphinans

In vitro binding studies have demonstrated the existence of multiple opiate receptor types. An additional site in the rat brain (termed the lambda site) is distinct from the established types by its selectivity for 4,5-epoxymorphinans (such as naloxone and morphine). While the lambda site displays a high affinity for naloxone in vivo and in vitro in fresh brain membrane homogenates, these sites rapidly convert in vitro to a state of low affinity. The regional distribution of the lambda site in the brain is strikingly different from that of the classic opiate receptor types.     

BINDING CAPACITY OF REDUCTIVELY FRAGMENTED ANTIBODIES TO THE 2,4-DINITROPHENYL GROUP

Mild reductive cleavage of the polypeptide chains of antibodies to the 2,4-dinitrophenyl group has been carried out according to the methods of Porter and co-workers. The addition of epsilon-2,4-dinitrophenyllysine permitted almost complete retention of the antibody binding capacity upon transfer to IM propionic acid. Fractionation of the chains showed that the hapten was specifically bound to the A and not the B chains, and that about 30 percent of the B chains were bound to A in the presence of the bound hapten. The results confirm the conclusion of Porter and ca-workers that the A chain is the principal component of the antibody site, but suggest that the B chain may also contribute to the site.