Antigen-antigen receptor interactions

The genetic basis of antigen receptor diversity is understood for both B and T cell systems. Structural aspects of five specific antibody-antigen interactions have also been described. During the past year, new data comparing the structures of liganded and unliganded antibodies have given support to the hypothesis that there exists a structural dimension to diversity. Other advances include the determination of the structure of an antibody-peptide complex and the establishment of an experimental system that could supply data on the conformation of many complementarity-determining regions of antigen receptors.