Three-dimensional structure of a high affinity anti-(4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl antibody possessing a glycine residue at position 95 of the heavy chain

Antibodies possessing high affinity and specificity are desired as therapeutic reagents and biosensor materials. Such antibodies are often obtained from immunized animals through the process referred to as affinity maturation where antibody affinity increases with time after immunization. Somatic hypermutation (SHM) was shown to be involved in this process; however, structural basis of affinity maturation has not well been understood yet. We...