The structure of an intact, anti-canine lymphoma monoclonal antibody (Mab231) was determined by molecular replacement and refined in a triclinic cell to an R-value of 20.9%, using synchrotron diffraction data from 2.8 to 20 A resolution. All segments of the antibody, including the hinge region and carbohydrate component, are visible in electron density maps. There is no overall symmetry to the antibody, as the Fc is disposed in an entirely oblique manner with respect to the Fabs. The CH2 and CH3 domains do, however, possess a nearly exact, local 2-fold relationship. The Fab segments are related by a second, independent, local dyad axis, exact only with respect to constant domains. Variable domains exhibit no symmetry relationship as a consequence of the 16 degrees difference in Fab elbow angles. Variable domain pair associations VL:VH for the Fabs are virtually the same, and corresponding CDRs of the two Fabs also are nearly identical in structure. CDR-H3 displays the greatest difference. Hypervariable loops of both Fabs are involved in contacts with symmetry-related Fc segments at the CH2-CH3 switch junction, suggesting a "complex" structure. The hinge segment connecting Fabs with the Fc is quite extended and exhibits thermal factors indicative of a high degree of mobility. It consists of a well-defined upper hinge that partially maintains dyad symmetry and a fairly rigid core bounded above and below by fluid polypeptides that provide segmental flexibility. This structure represents the first visualization by X-ray analysis of a murine Fc segment, and its CH2 domains exhibit substantial rigid body conformational changes with respect to the human Fc used as an initial molecular replacement model. The oligosaccharides were found by difference Fourier syntheses to be very similar to those of the free human Fc fragment, although differences are present in the terminal residues. The detailed structure of the IgG presented here, and the distribution of effector binding sites, appears consistent with effector activation mechanisms involving translocation and/or aggregation of the Fc following antigen binding by the Fabs.

Microglial activation is an early and common feature of almost all neuropathologies, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and mechanical injury. To better understand the relative contributions microglia make toward neurodegeneration and neuroprotection, we used TOGA Ò to identify molecules expressed by microglia and regulated by inflammatory signals. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM-2) was among the mRNAs identified as being expressed by unactivated microglia, but down-regulated by lipopolysaccharide/interferon c. In the healthy CNS, not all microglia expressed TREM-2. Microglial expression of TREM-2 varied not only between brain regions but also within each brain region. Brain regions with an incomplete blood-brain barrier had the lowest percentages of TREM-2-expressing microglia, whereas the lateral entorhinal and cingulate cortex had the highest percentages. A novel form of TREM-2b that lacked a transmembrane domain was detected, perhaps indicating a soluble form of the protein. Taken together, these data suggest that (1) subsets of microglia are specialized to respond to defined extracellular signals; and (2) Tissue-specific inflammation is dependent on more than simply the presence of an antigen within a tissue and an immune response mounted against that antigen. The onset, progression and termination of inflammatory responses are largely dependent on how the resident tissue macrophage/ dendritic cell interacts with both stromal tissue and tissueinfiltrating immune cells (Medzhitov and Janeway 1998;Lo et al. 1999). These interactions can shape antigen-independent and antigen-dependent immune responses toward the production of toxic molecules capable of destroying not only pathogens but also the tissues themselves. Such events have been argued to contribute to catastrophic neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and stroke (Kreutzberg 1996;Stoll and Jander 1999;Becher et al. 2000;Streit 2000;Aloisi 2001;Schwab et al. 2001;Campanella et al. 2002;Togo et al. 2002). Antigen presentation within the CNS by either microglia and/or CNS-infiltrating macrophages/dendritic cells may also mute and may potentially redirect antigen-specific immune responses toward the production of trophic factors (Ford et al. 1996;Raivich et al. 1998;Carson et al. 1999a;Kerschensteiner et al. 1999;Serpe et al. 1999). Such interactions have been suggested to contribute to the generation of immunological privilege and promotion of neuronal survival in the CNS (Schwartz et al. 1999;Streit 2000).The tissue macrophages of the brain are the microglia (Kreutzberg 1996;Streit 2000;Aloisi 2001). They are found in all brain regions, often in close apposition with neurons, and comprise between 5 and 15% of cells in the CNS. Abbreviations used: BBB, blood-brain barrier; Ct, cycle threshold; IRG, interferon response gene; IFN, interferon; LPS, lipolysaccharide; MHC, major histocompatibility complex; SSC, saline sodium citrate buffer; svTREM-2b, splice variant of triggerin...

CD4-IgG2 is a novel fusion protein comprising human IgG2 in which the Fv portions of both heavy and light chains have been replaced by the V1 and V2 domains of human CD4. This tetrameric protein is being developed as an immunoprophylactic agent to reduce the probability of infection following HIV-1 exposure, in settings such as occupational or perinatal exposure to the virus. CD4-IgG2 has been expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and is secreted as a fully assembled heterotetramer. The protein binds with nanomolar affinity to purified gp120 from both a laboratory-adapted strain and a primary isolate of HIV-1. Pharmacokinetic studies in rabbits demonstrated that CD4-IgG2 has a plasma terminal half-life greater than 1 day, compared with 15 min for soluble CD4 (sCD4). CD4-IgG2 does not bind to Fc receptors on the surface of U937 monocyte/macrophage cells. Compared to molecules that incorporate the Fc portion of IgG1, CD4-IgG2 has less potential to mediate functions such as antibody-dependent enhancement of infection or transplacental transmission of HIV-1. When tested in a virus-free HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein-mediated cell fusion assay, the tetrameric CD4-IgG2 molecule inhibited syncytium formation more effectively than monomeric sCD4 or a dimeric CD4-gamma 2 fusion protein. This suggests the protein will block cell-to-cell transmission of HIV-1. Moreover, CD4-IgG2 effectively neutralized a panel of laboratory-adapted strains and primary isolates of HIV-1, including strains with different tropisms and isolated from different stages of the disease, at concentrations that should be readily achieved in vivo.

Crystal structures of Fab antibody fragments determined by X-ray diffraction characteristically feature four-domain, beta-barrel arrangements. A human antibody Fc fragment has also been found to have four beta-barrel domains. The structures of a few intact antibodies have been solved: in two myeloma proteins, the flexible hinge regions that connect the Fc to the Fab segments were deleted so the molecules were non-functional, structurally restrained, T-shaped antibodies; a third antibody, Kol, had no hinge residues missing but the Fc region was sufficiently disordered that it was not possible to relate its disposition accurately with respect to the Fab components. Here we report the structure at 3.5 A resolution of an IgG2a antitumour monoclonal antibody which contains an intact hinge region and was solved in a triclinic crystal by molecular replacement using known Fc and Fab fragments. The antibody is asymmetric, reflecting its dynamic character. There are two local, apparently independent, dyads in the molecule. One relates the heavy chains in the Fc, the other relates the constant domains of the Fabs. The variable domains are not related by this 2-fold axis because of the different Fab elbow angles of 159 degrees and 143 degrees. The Fc has assumed an asymmetric, oblique orientation with respect to loosely tethered yet almost collinear Fabs. Our study enables the two antigen-binding segments as well as the Fc portion of a functional molecule to be visualized and illustrates the flexibility of these immune response proteins.

We examined regions of human lamins A and C involved in binding to surfaces of mitotic chromosomes. An Escherichia coli expression system was used to produce full‐length lamin A and lamin C, and truncated lamins retaining the central alpha‐helical rod domain (residues 34–388) but lacking various amounts of the amino‐terminal ‘head’ and carboxy‐terminal ‘tail’ domains. We found that lamin A, lamin C and lamin fragments lacking the head domain and tail sequences distal to residue 431 efficiently assembled into paracrystals and strongly associated with mitotic chromosomes. Furthermore, the lamin rod domain also associated with chromosomes, although efficient chromosome coating required the pH 5–6 conditions needed to assemble the rod into higher order structures. Biochemical assays showed that chromosomes substantially reduced the critical concentration for assembly of lamin polypeptides into pelletable structures. Association of the lamin rod with chromosomes was abolished by pretrypsinization of chromosomes, and was not seen for vimentin (which possesses a similar rod domain). These data demonstrate that the alpha‐helical rod of lamins A and C contains a specific chromosome binding site. Hence, the central rod domain of intermediate filament proteins can be involved in interactions with other cellular structures as well as in filament assembly.