Determination of primary amino acid sequence and unique three- dimensional structure of WGH1, a monoclonal human IgM antibody with anti-PR3 specificity

Transformed B cells making monoclonal IgM-λ anti-PR3 antibody WGH1 from a patient with Wegener's granulomatosis were used to prepare mRNA and synthesize cDNA. PCR primers for human μ and λ chains were then employed to amplify heavy- and light-chain V-regions followed by cloning into pCR2-1 vector and sequencing. Molecular modeling of VH regions employed knowledge- based homology modeling to obtain minimum energy conformation. The VH sequence was subgroup III with marked overall homology to VHI.9III. The VHCDR3 region of WGH1 was unique, consisting of 21 amino acid residues which included seven tyrosines as well as three negatively charged aspartic acid residues. The VL region was subgroup II with a negatively charged glutamic acid at position 100 in CDR3. Molecular modeling of VH revealed a major conformational difference in the shape of CDR3 compared with other antibodies for which three-dimensional structures have been determined. Monoclonal antibody WGH1 reacting with PR3 (a highly positively charged molecule) shows a unique reactive cassette within VHCDR3 with a number of negatively charged aspartic acid residues. WGH1 VHCDR3 contains a loop which shows a major projection not usually recorded in other previously studied antibody molecules.