Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2005-1-24
pubmed:abstractText
The third complementarity-determining regions (CDR3s) of antibodies and T cell receptors (TCRs) have been shown to play a major role in antigen binding and specificity. Consistent with this notion, we demonstrated previously that high-affinity, peptide-specific TCRs could be generated in vitro by mutations in the CDR3alpha region of the 2C TCR. In contrast, it has been argued that CDR1 and CDR2 are involved to a greater extent than CDR3s in the process of MHC restriction, due to their engagement of MHC helices. Based on this premise, we initiated the present study to explore whether higher affinity TCRs generated through mutations in these CDRs or other regions would lead to significant reductions in peptide specificity (i.e. the result of greater binding energy gained through interactions with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) helices). Yeast-display technology and flow sorting were used to select high-affinity TCRs from libraries of CDR mutants or random mutants. High-affinity TCRs with mutations in the first residue of the Valpha, CDR1, CDR2, or CDR3 were isolated. Unexpectedly, every TCR mutant, including those in CDR1 and CDR2, retained remarkable peptide specificity. Molecular modeling of various mutants suggested that such exquisite specificity may be due to: (1) enhanced electrostatic interactions with key peptide or MHC residues; or (2) stabilization of CDRs in specific conformations. The results indicate that the TCR is positioned so that virtually every CDR can contribute to the antigen-specificity of a T cell. The conserved diagonal docking of TCRs could thus orient each CDR loop to sense the peptide directly or indirectly through peptide-induced effects on the MHC.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0022-2836
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
11
pubmed:volume
346
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
223-39
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2005
pubmed:articleTitle
High-affinity, peptide-specific T cell receptors can be generated by mutations in CDR1, CDR2 or CDR3.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.