MURINE COMPLEMENT RECEPTOR CR2

拟议的研究将描述鼠补体受体Cr2。 该基因产生两种相关的蛋白质，其主要功能是 被描述为补体调理片段的受体。 期间 病毒或细菌感染时，补体途径参与两者 溶解入侵的病原体并在表面覆盖蛋白质 主要来源于C3产物的亚基。 这些结合蛋白 片段可以被各种不同的受体链识别 来内化并希望能中和病原体 这条路， 然而，可以被病原体利用，如艾滋病毒， 劫持补体途径进入它们缺乏的细胞 合适的受体。 我们计划集中在基因和基因产物的两个相关方面。 首先是描述那些基因控制序列， Cr2在鼠B细胞和滤泡树突状细胞中的表达， 抑制其在几乎所有其他细胞类型中的表达。 这个问题 将通过创造各种基因结构来实现， 使用体外和体内技术分析它们。 第二 研究的第一阶段是确定Cr2蛋白在 对入侵病原体的免疫反应的获得。 这些实验 将重点关注Cr2链促进抗原摄取的作用 由B细胞和滤泡树突状细胞上的蛋白质的作用。 我们从这些研究中获得的生物学信息， 适合于理解人CR2作为鼠CR2的功能。 蛋白

The proposed research will describe the murine complement receptor Cr2. This gene produces two related proteins whose primary functions have been described as receptors for opsonized fragments of complement. During a viral or bacterial infection, the complement pathway is engaged to both lyse the invading pathogen as well as to coat the surface with protein subunits derived primarily from the C3 product. These bound protein fragments can then be recognized by a variety of different receptor chains to internalize and hopefully neutralize the pathogen. This pathway, however, can be exploited by pathogens such as HIV which can essentially hijack the complement pathway to gain entry into cells for which they lack the appropriate receptor. We plan to focus upon two related aspects of the gene and gene products. First is to describe those genetic control sequences which promote the expression of Cr2 in murine B cells and follicular dendritic cells and inhibit its expression in virtually all other cell types. This question will be approached by creating a variety of genetic constructs and analyzing them using both in vitro and in vivo techniques. The second phase of the research is to determine the role of the Cr2 proteins in the acquisition of an immune response to invading pathogens. These experiments will focus upon the role of the Cr2 chains to promote the uptake of antigen by B cells and the role of the protein on the follicular dendritic cell. The biological information we obtain from these studies should just as amenable to understanding the function(s) of human CR2 as the murine protein.