Structural Basis for Antigen Recognition by Transglutaminase 2-specific Autoantibodies in Celiac Disease.
Chen, X., Hnida, K., Graewert, M.A., Andersen, J.T., Iversen, R., Tuukkanen, A., Svergun, D., Sollid, L.M.(2015) J Biol Chem 290: 21365-21375
- PubMed: 26160175 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M115.669895
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4ZD3 - PubMed Abstract: 
Antibodies to the autoantigen transglutaminase 2 (TG2) are a hallmark of celiac disease. We have studied the interaction between TG2 and an anti-TG2 antibody (679-14-E06) derived from a single gut IgA plasma cell of a celiac disease patient. The antibody recognizes one of four identified epitopes targeted by antibodies of plasma cells of the disease lesion. The binding interface was identified by small angle x-ray scattering, ab initio and rigid body modeling using the known crystal structure of TG2 and the crystal structure of the antibody Fab fragment, which was solved at 2.4 Å resolution. The result was confirmed by testing binding of the antibody to TG2 mutants by ELISA and surface plasmon resonance. TG2 residues Arg-116 and His-134 were identified to be critical for binding of 679-14-E06 as well as other epitope 1 antibodies. In contrast, antibodies directed toward the two other main epitopes (epitopes 2 and 3) were not affected by these mutations. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest interactions of 679-14-E06 with the N-terminal domain of TG2 via the CDR2 and CDR3 loops of the heavy chain and the CDR2 loop of the light chain. In addition there were contacts of the framework 3 region of the heavy chain with the catalytic domain of TG2. The results provide an explanation for the biased usage of certain heavy and light chain gene segments by epitope 1-specific antibodies in celiac disease.
Organizational Affiliation: 
From the Centre for Immune Regulation and Department of Immunology, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, N-0372 Oslo, Norway and.