Atomic Model Structure of the NIST Monoclonal Antibody (NISTmAb) Reference Material.

As monoclonal antibodies have become a vital resource in medicine, knowledge of their complex molecular structures has increased in importance. Thousands of antibody components (Fab and Fc fragments) are described in the Protein Data Bank. Whole antibodies have been imaged by electron microscopy methods and in a few cases, crystallized. The central hinge lacks a unique stable conformation and its dynamic properties are important to antibody function. Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations and small-angle scattering methods have been used to analyze the wide range of configurations that are accessible to antibodies in solution. In order to support the development of antibody-based medicines, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released an extensively characterized IgG1κ monoclonal antibody (mAb), called the NISTmAb Reference Material 8671. To facilitate modeling of whole antibodies we now report the construction of an all-atom 3-D model of the NISTmAb.