Tertiary structures, receptor binding, and antigenicity of insulinlike growth factors

Fed Proc. 1983 Jun;42(9):2592-7.

Abstract

Three-dimensional models for human insulinlike growth factors (IGF-I and IGF-II) have been constructed by using interactive molecular graphics. It is suggested that the two growth factors have structures in which the A and B chains and the hydrophobic cores are identical to those of insulin. The conformations of the connecting peptides and COOH-terminal extensions are predicted by statistical methods but the structures are limited by the constraints implied by the insulinlike part. The models explain the nonsuppressibility by anti-insulin antibodies of the IGFs and show that part of the insulin receptor-binding region is conserved, which explains the growth factors' ability to bind insulin receptors.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antigen-Antibody Complex
  • Epitopes / analysis*
  • Immune Sera
  • Insulin / metabolism*
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Models, Molecular
  • Peptides / metabolism*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / immunology
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Somatomedin
  • Somatomedins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antigen-Antibody Complex
  • Epitopes
  • Immune Sera
  • Insulin
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Peptides
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • Receptors, Somatomedin
  • Somatomedins