Structure-function study of the p55 subunit of murine IL-2 receptor by epitope mapping

Using a cell-free translation system we have expressed the Mr 55,000 subunit of the murine IL-2R (p55 IL-2R), which binds IL-2 with low affinity (Kd = 10 nM). Mutants and truncated forms of p55 IL-2R have been used to map the epitopes recognized by three anti-p55 IL-2R mAb: 135D5, 7D4, and 2E4. The mAb 135D5 inhibits IL-2 binding to p55 IL-2R and recognizes an epitope located between amino acids 64 to 125. This epitope can be mimicked by a synthetic peptide corresponding to the region defined by residues 72 to 88. However, the mAb 7D4 and 2E4 do not affect the IL-2 binding to p55 IL-2R. These mAb recognize an epitope of p55 IL-2R lying between residues 125 to 212 that can be mimicked with a peptide corresponding to amino acids 188 to 208. A strong correlation emerged between the experimental results on epitope mapping and predictions of potential antigenicity of murine p55 IL-2R. In addition, we described two internal initiation sites of p55 IL-2R mRNA under the in vitro conditions used leading to the production of significant amounts of N-terminal truncated p55 IL-2R proteins.