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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Immunol Rev. 2012 Nov;250(1):167–179. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065X.2012.01166.x

Fig. 2. Antigen recognition by the type I NKT TCR.

Fig. 2

(A). Ternary complex (PDB ID 3HE6) between CD1d/b2m (grey and blue), αGalCer (yellow), and the type I NKT TCR (α chain in cyan, β chain in orange). (B). Footprint of the type I NKT TCR on CD1d. Residues on the CD1d surface contacting the α chain are shown in cyan, residues contacting the β chain are shown in orange, shared residues in green. (C). Details of the antigen-binding groove showing the superposition of the bound conformations of αGalCer (yellow), BbGL2c (green, PDB ID 3O9W), and iGb3 (blue, PDB ID 3RZC), after being flattened by the TCR. The CDR loops (cyan) contact the antigens exclusively through Asn30α and Gly96α. Polar contacts are shown as dashed lines.

Note how all the bound ligands adopt similar conformation for their first sugar upon TCR binding.