STRUCTURE OF HUMAN-IGM RHEUMATOID-FACTOR FAB BOUND TO ITS AUTOANTIGENIGG FC REVEALS A NOVEL TOPOLOGY OF ANTIBODY-ANTIGEN INTERACTION

Rheumatoid factors are the characteristic autoantibodies of rheumatoid arthritis, which bind to the Fc regions of IgG molecules. Here we rep ort the crystal structure of the Fab fragment of a patient-derived IgM rheumatoid factor (RF-AN) complexed with human IgG4 Fc, at 3.2 Angstr om resolution. This is the first structure of an autoantibody-autoanti body complex, The epitope recognised in IgG Fc includes the C gamma 2/ C gamma 3 cleft region, and overlaps the binding sites of bacterial Fc -binding proteins. The antibody residues involved in autorecognition a re all located at the edge of the conventional combining site surface, leaving much of the latter available, potentially, for recognition of a different antigen. Since an important contact residue is a somatic mutation, the structure implicates antigen-driven selection, following somatic mutation of germline genes, in the production of pathogenic r heumatoid factors.