Publications by authors named "J A Beckingham"

Autoantibodies that bind DNA are a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus. A subset of autoantibody*DNA complexes localize to kidney tissue and lead to damage and even death. 11F8, 9F11, and 15B10 are clonally related anti-DNA autoantibodies isolated from an autoimmune mouse.

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Detailed stopped-flow studies in combination with site-directed mutagenesis, isothermal titration calorimetry data and x-ray crystallographic knowledge have revealed that the biphasic pre-equilibrium fluorescence changes reported for a single Ig-binding domain of protein L from Peptostreptococcus magnus binding to kappa light chain are due to the binding of the kappa light chain at two separate sites on the protein L molecule. Elimination of binding site 2 through the mutation A66W has allowed the K(d) for kappa light chain binding at site 1 to be measured by stopped-flow fluorescence and isothermal titration calorimetry techniques, giving values of 48.0 +/- 8.

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Protein L is a multidomain cell-wall protein isolated from Peptostreptococcus magnus. It belongs to a group of proteins that contain repeated domains that are able to bind to Igs without stimulating an immune response, the most characterized of this group being Protein A ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and Protein G ( Streptococcus ). Both of these proteins bind predominantly to the interface of C(H)2-C(H)3 heavy chains, while Protein L binds exclusively to the V(L) domain of the kappa -chain.

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11F8 is a pathogenic monoclonal anti-ssDNA autoantibody isolated from a lupus prone mouse. Previous studies established that 11F8 is sequence-specific and identified the thermodynamic and kinetic basis for the specific recognition of ssDNA, and binding site mutations of a single-chain construct reveal that (Y32)LCDR1, (R31)HCDR1, (W33)HCDR1, (R98)HCDR3, (L97)HCDR3, and (Y100)HCDR3 are responsible for approximately 80% of the binding free energy. Here we evaluate the role of these residues along with a group of basic residues (K62, K64, R24, K52) within the context of the binding mechanism.

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Background: Peptostreptococcus magnus protein L (PpL) is a multidomain, bacterial surface protein whose presence correlates with virulence. It consists of up to five homologous immunoglobulin binding domains that interact with the variable (VL) regions of kappa light chains found on two thirds of mammalian antibodies.

Results: We refined the crystal structure of the complex between a human antibody Fab fragment (2A2) and a single PpL domain (61 residues) to 2.

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