Fig. 3.

Comparison of the amino acid sequences of the H-and L-chains of Ab-hAE and 8-18C5. The sequences are shown in single letter code. Complementarity determining regions (CDR) were determined according to IMGT and are indicated in the uppermost line. a For clarity, amino acids of the CDRs are boxed. The conserved cysteine residues in the V-regions and the amino acids WG and FGxG in the J-regions of the H- and L-chains, respectively, which are structural guideposts, are highlighted in grey. To illustrate affinity maturation, amino acids that comprise the CDR3 regions or were introduced by SHM are shown in red letters. Germline-encoded amino acids are shown in black. The germline alleles are: 8-18C5 H-chain: mouse IGHV1-18*04, 8-18C5 L-chain: mouse IGKV8-28*01, rAb-hAE H-chain: human IGHV3-9*01, and rAb-hAE L-chain: human IGKV1-6*01. b To compare the amino acid composition of the loops that may contact antigens, the most prominent amino acids of the CDR regions are shown in colors. Color code is according to RasMol, e.g., red: negatively charged, blue: positively charged, light blue: big hydrophilic, dark blue with white letters: aromatic amino acids, green: aliphatic amino acids