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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) plays important roles in immune cell adhesion, trafficking, and activation and is a therapeutic target for the treatment of multiple autoimmune diseases. Efalizumab is one of the most efficacious antibody drugs for treating psoriasis, a very common skin disease, through inhibition of the binding of LFA-1 to the ligand intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1). We report here the crystal structures of the Efalizumab Fab alone and in complex with the LFA-1 alpha(L) I domain, which reveal the molecular mechanism of inhibition of LFA-1 by Efalizumab. The Fab binds with an epitope on the inserted (I) domain that is distinct from the ligand-binding site. Efalizumab binding blocks the binding of LFA-1 to ICAM-1 via steric hindrance between its light chain and ICAM-1 domain 2 and thus inhibits the activities of LFA-1. These results have important implications for the development of improved antibodies and new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Efalizumab binding to the LFA-1 alphaL I domain blocks ICAM-1 binding via steric hindrance.,Li S, Wang H, Peng B, Zhang M, Zhang D, Hou S, Guo Y, Ding J Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 17;106(11):4349-54. Epub 2009 Mar 3. PMID:19258452^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.