| Abstract: | The antigenic determinants of trichosanthin were predicted by molecular modeling. First, the threedimensional structure model of the antigen-binding fragment of anti-trichosanthin immunoglobulin E was built on the basis of its amino-acid sequence and the known three-dimensional structure of an antibody with similar sequence. Secondly, the preferable antigen-antibody interactions were obtained based on the known three-dimensional structure of trichosanthin and of the hypervariable regions of anti-trichosanthin immunoglobulin E. Two regions in the molecular surface of trichosanthin were found to form extensive interactions with the hypervariable regions of the antibody and have been predicted to be the possible antigenic determinants: one is composed of two polypeptide segments, Ile201-Glu210 and Ile225-Asp229, which are close to each other in the three-dimensional structure; and the other is the segment Lys173-Thr178. The former region seems to be the more reasonable antigenic determinant than the latter one. |
