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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Visualization of Recombinant DNA and Protein Complexes Using Atomic Force Microscopy
Published on: July 18, 2011
An atomic resolution view of ICAM recognition in a complex between the binding domains of ICAM-3 and integrin
Gang Song1, Yuting Yang, Jin-Huan Liu
1CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
Within the Ig superfamily (IgSF), intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs) form a subfamily that binds the leukocyte integrin alphaLbeta2. We report a 1.65-A-resolution crystal structure of the ICAM-3 N-terminal domain (D1) in complex with the inserted domain, the ligand-binding domain of alphaLbeta2. This high-resolution structure and comparisons among ICAM subfamily members establish that the binding of ICAM-3 D1 onto the inserted domain represents a common docking mode for ICAM subfamily members. The markedly different off-rates of ICAM-1, -2, and -3 appear to be determined by the hydrophobicity of residues that surround a metal coordination bond in the alphaLbeta2-binding interfaces. Variation in composition of glycans on the periphery of the interfaces influences on-rate.
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