title: Structure and function of the pentraxins.
abstract: Over the past two years, the three-dimensional structure of the serum amyloid P component was defined by X-ray diffraction, the first such visualization of a pentraxin. Binding sites for calcium, ligands and complement were identified. New fusion proteins with amino acid sequence homology to the pentraxins were described, and new insights were gained into pentraxin phylogeny, biosynthesis, ligands, complement activation, leukocyte reactivity and biological functions in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology/Microbiology, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Il 60612, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gewurz
authors.forename: X H
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Lint
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D000685:Serum Amyloid A Protein / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000685:Serum Amyloid A Protein; D003165:Complement System Proteins; D002097:C-Reactive Protein