title: Identifying and structurally characterizing CD1b in Aotus nancymaae owl monkeys.
abstract: This study reports the molecular characterization and tissue expression of the non-human Aotus nancymaae primate CD1b isoform in the search for an experimental animal model to be used in evaluating the role of non-peptide antigen-presentation molecules in the immune response to infectious agents. CD1b expression on the surface of A. nancymaae peripheral blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells, shown by flow cytometry, was made possible by using human CD1b isoform antibodies. Studying the expression of CD1b-encoded transcripts revealed this molecule's broad distribution in several tissues. The A. nancymaae CD1b transcript-encoded amino-acid sequence showed 95.5% identity with the human sequence. Such high sequence homology was reflected in the identical structural conservation of how pockets A', C' and F' and tunnel T' conforming the antigen's binding site are organized, the similar arrangement of those amino-acids interacting with the T-cell receptor (TCR) during antigen presentation, and the conservation of YQNI-motif sequence in the cytoplasmatic tail (responsible for the molecule's intracellular trafficking in humans). Comparing the structure of human CD1a and CD1b and mouse CD1d proteins with CD1b structure in A. nancymaae obtained by minimization revealed that changes in the latter molecule's alpha1 and alpha2 domains imposed a narrowing of the antigen-binding groove in A. nancymaae CD1b. The high structural similarity between A. nancymaae CD1b and that from humans presented in this study leads to A. nancymaae being proposed as a suitable experimental animal model for analyzing CD1b in vivo, mainly in bacterial and parasite infections such as tuberculosis and malaria, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Fundación Instituto de Inmunologia de Colombia and Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 50 No 26-00, Bogotá DC, Colombia.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guerrero
authors.forename: Esperanza
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trujillo
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Luz M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barato
authors.forename: Manuel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Patarroyo
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parra-López
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D018949:Antigens, CD1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016645:Aotidae; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D018949:Antigens, CD1; C419394:CD1b antigen; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell