Shark Antibody Variable Domains Rigidify Upon Affinity Maturation-Understanding the Potential of Shark Immunoglobulins as Therapeutics.

ABSTRACT: Sharks and other cartilaginous fish are the phylogenetically oldest living organisms that have antibodies as part of their adaptive immune system. As part of their humoral adaptive immune response, they produce an immunoglobulin, the so-called immunoglobulin new antigen receptor (IgNAR), a heavy-chain only antibody. The variable domain of an IgNAR, also known as V _NAR , binds the antigen as an independent soluble domain. In this study, we structurally and dynamically characterized the affinity maturation mechanism of the germline and somatically matured (PBLA8) V _NAR to better understand their function and their applicability as therapeutics. We observed a substantial rigidification upon affinity maturation, which is accompanied by a higher number of con

SUBMITTER: Fernandez-Quintero ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8093575 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature