title: Three-dimensional structure and flexibility of proteins of the RCA family - a progress report.
abstract: Members of the regulator of complement activation (RCA) protein family perform a vital role in health and disease. In this report we describe our efforts to solve the structures of human membrane cofactor protein (CD46), the vaccinia virus complement control protein, which mimics mammalian RCA proteins, and human complement receptor type 1 (CD35). These examples illustrate that, despite good progress over the last decade, the regulators of complement, as extracellular multiple domain glycoproteins, still pose formidable problems to structural biologists. Many important questions remain unanswered, in particular with regard to the flexibility of these proteins and the extent to which they undergo conformational rearrangements on engaging their binding partners.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'leary
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krych-Goldberg
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Barlow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D016466:CHO Cells; D003167:Complement Activation; D006224:Cricetinae; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D051916:Membrane Cofactor Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017463:Receptors, Complement 3b / Q000737:chemistry*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; C497857:CD46 protein, human; D051916:Membrane Cofactor Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D017463:Receptors, Complement 3b; D014764:Viral Proteins; C066459:complement-control protein, Vaccinia virus