The three-dimensional structure of intact human rhinovirus 14 (HRV-14) complexed with Fab fragments (Fab17-IA) from a strongly neutralizing antibody that binds bivalently to the virion 1,2 has been determined to 4.0 Å resolution by a combination of X-ray crystallography and cryoelectron microscopy. In contradiction to the most commonly held model of antibody-mediated neutralization, Fab17-IA does not induce a conformational change in the HRV-14 capsid. Instead, the paratope of the antibody undergoes a large conformational change to accommodate the epitope. Unlike any previously described antibody-antigen structure, the conserved framework region of the antibody makes extensive contact with the viral surface. Fab17-IA penetrates deep within the canyon in which the cellular receptor for HRV-14 binds 3,4 . Hence, it is unlikely that viral quaternary structure evolves merely to evade immune recognition. Instead, the shape and position of the receptor-binding region on a virus probably dictates receptor binding and subsequent uncoating events and has little or no influence on concealing the virus from the immune system.The capsid of HRV-14 is composed of 60 copies of four viral proteins, VP1-VP4. Each of the first three proteins has a relative molecular mass of ~30,000 (M r ~ 30K) and a similar ²-barrel structure. The smaller VP4 (M r ~ 7K) lies at the capsid-RNA interface with an extended structure 3 . The monoclonal antibody 17-IA binds to the NIm-IA site which was defined by natural escape mutations at residues D1091 and E1095 on the B-C loop of VP1 (the first digit designates the viral protein and the remaining three designate the residue number). The NIm-IA epitope lies at the 'north rim' of a depression (canyon) on the viral surface that encircles each of the five-fold icosahedral axes of the virus 3 and is where the receptor, ICAM-1, binds 4 . The variable domains (V H · V L ) of Fab17-IA make extensive contact with both the north and south walls of the canyon region. At the north wall, the antigen-binding region (paratope) contacts ~550 Å 2 of the viral surface around NIm-IA site (Fig. 1). The heavychain hypervariable region dominates the contact surface: 23 residues from the heavy chain but only 9 residues from the light chain. As was proposed on the basis of cryo-electron microscopy on this HRV/Fab complex 5 , coulombic interactions dominate the paratopeepitope interface with roughly two-thirds of the total buried viral surface being contributed CORRESPONDENCE and requests for materials should be addressed to H.R.B. (hbourne@quickmail.ucsf.edu). Although somatic mutations occur throughout the variable domain 7 , it is unlikely that mutations in these framework sites that contact the viral surface are merely coincidental.
NIH Public AccessSeveral large changes in the Fab17-IA structure accompany binding to HRV-14, although the virus capsid remains essentially rigid (Fig. 2a). A large conformational change occurs in the heavy-chain CDR3 loop (Fig. 2b, c, d) where the Cα atom of Tyr102 H moves up to 5...