title: A conformational change in the human major histocompatibility complex protein HLA-DR1 induced by peptide binding.
abstract: To investigate a conformational change accompanying peptide binding to class II MHC proteins, we probed the structure of a soluble version of the human class II MHC protein HLA-DR1 in empty and peptide-loaded forms. Peptide binding induced a large decrease in the effective radius of the protein as determined by gel filtration, dynamic light scattering, and analytical ultracentrifugation. It caused a substantial increase in the cooperativity of thermal denaturation and induced alterations in MHC polypeptide backbone structure as determined by circular dichroism. These changes suggest a condensation of the protein around the bound peptide. An antibody specific for beta58-69 preferentially bound the empty protein, indicating that the peptide-induced conformational change involves the beta-subunit helical region. The conformational change may have important implications for the mechanisms of intracellular antigen presentation pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Zarutskie
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rushe
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lomakin
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Benedek
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Stern
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000378:metabolism; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D015798:HLA-DR1 Antigen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000235:genetics; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015798:HLA-DR1 Antigen; D010455:Peptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins