Proteolytic Antibodies

Abstract

AbstractCatalytic activities are known to arise naturally in antibodies. Several naturally‐occurring peptides, synthetic protease substrates, DNA, and esters are known to be cleaved by antibodies. There is increased production of antigen‐specific catalytic antibodies in autoimmune disease. Polyreactive catalytic antibodies are present in unimmunized donors. Antibody light chains isolated from multiple myeloma patients frequently express proteolytic activity. Immunization protocols using as immunogens the ground state of a naturally‐occurring polypeptide, anti‐enzyme antibodies, or the enzyme itself are known to provoke catalytic antibody synthesis. Active site residues in the light chain subunit serve as the catalytic residues in a model antibody with peptide bond cleaving activity. A split‐site model in which distinct amino acids serve as the essential catalytic residues and substrate ground‐state recognition residues has been developed from mutagenesis studies. Engineering of the available antibodies could potentially generate improved catalysts. The possible mechanisms underlying proteolysis by natural antibodies and evolution of the catalytic activity are reviewed.