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"So many peptides, so few grooves" - compare the ways in which specific antigen recognition is accomplished by MHC molecues, by T cell receptors and by antibody molecules.
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T. Konrad Rajab The Queen's College University of Oxford "So many peptides, so few grooves" - compare the ways in which specific antigen recognition is accomplished by MHC molecues, by T cell receptors and by antibody molecules Introduction Specific antigen recognition lies at the heart of the adaptive immune response. This essay will compare how MHC, TCR and Ab molecules accomplish this feat. Structural differences in antigen-binding site Thanks to X-ray crystallography, we have a rather clear picture of the structure of the antigen-binding sites of the three relevant proteins. In the case of the MHC, the peptide-binding groove consists of a floor and two walls. Importantly, this structure is germline-encoded. In the floor, the ? chain of the class I molecule or the ? and ß chains of the class II molecule form a ß-pleated sheet. The walls are constituted by ?-helixes. In the MHC class I molecule, walls and floor are formed by the ? chain....
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