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C-reactive protein

Structural Biology, Gene Expression, and Host Defense Function

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Abstract

Over the past few years substantial insight was gained into the biol ogy and biochemistry of human C-reactive protein (CRP). X-ray crystallography in conjunction with mutational analyses, generated the three-dimensional structure of the protein and indicated the topology and structure of ligand-binding sites. Using human CRP transgenic mice infected withStreptococcus pneumoniae, we obtained data that clearly established CRP as an important host defense molecule. Studies using the same mice revealed a previ ously unknown testosterone-dependence of constitutive expression of human CRP. In this article we provide a brief overview of these recent findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Dept. of Med./Clin. Immunol, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294, Birmingham, AL.

    Alex J. Szalai, Alok Agrawal & John E. Volanakis

  2. Department of Physics, Keele University, Staffordshire, Keele, UK

    Trevor J. Greenhough

Authors
  1. Alex J. Szalai
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  2. Alok Agrawal
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  3. Trevor J. Greenhough
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  4. John E. Volanakis
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Szalai, A.J., Agrawal, A., Greenhough, T.J. et al. C-reactive protein. Immunol Res 16, 127–136 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02786357

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