Crystal Structures of Intact IgG Antibodies

Crystal structures of intact IgG immunoglobulins have provided new insight into the interrelations of the Fab arms responsible for antigen binding and the Fc region mediating effector functions such as complement fixation and receptor attachment. Human immunoglobulins lacking the "hinge" region critical for segmental flexibility between the Fabs and the Fc (e.g., Dob and Mcg IgG1 proteins) exhibit Fc units that are represented by interpretable...