CTLA-4 Fc Recombinant Protein

CTLA-4 and CD28 are receptors of the immunoglobulin superfamily that are expressed, along with the transmembrane glycoproteins B7-1 and B7-2, by antigen-presenting cells, and with these ligands constitute crucial co-stimulatory pathways for T and B cell regulatory responses. It is through engagement with CD28 and CTLA-4 that the B7 family ligands B7-1 and B7-2 play principal roles in immunity by activating immune response and maintaining immune tolerance. Co-stimulatory signals generated by B7-1 and B7-2 interactions with CD28 serve to stimulate T cell activation and prevent anergy through the amplification of T cell receptor (TCR) signaling. In contrast, interactions of the ligands with CTLA-4 serves to maintain T cell homeostasis and self-tolerance through the disruption of stimulatory signaling from B7 isoform-bound CD28 complexes, and by inducing powerful inhibitory signals in T cells. CTLA-4, like B7-1, is only poorly expressed on resting dendritic cells; therefore, up-regulation of their interaction and resultant amplification and regulation of T cell activity at peripheral inflammation sites is considerably delayed upon immune activation. Conversely, B7-2 and CD28 are constitutively expressed by resting hematopoietic and T cells, respectively, and as a result are able to rapidly induce up-regulation upon immune activation, making them critical to the early co-stimulatory signaling of immune response. Unlike B7-1 and B7-2, the ligands PD-L1 (or B7-H1) and B7-H2, which also belong to the B7 family, have not been shown to influence immunity through interaction with CTLA-4. B7-H2 has been shown to have restricted interaction with CD28. The difference in expression of B7-1, B7-2 and B7-H2 may enable temporally and spatially-specific regulation of T cell response through non-competitive CD28 interaction. CHO cell-derived Recombinant Human CTLA-4 Fc is a glycosylated, disulfide-linked homodimer of 714 amino acid residues whose monomer consists of the 124-amino-acid length extracellular portion of CTLA-4 fused to the 231-amino-acid length Fc portion of human IgG1 by two glycines. The calculated molecular weight of Recombinant Human CTLA-4 Fc dimer is 78.7 kDa; however, due to glycosylation, the monomer and dimer migrate at apparent molecular weights of approximately 45–50 kDa and 80–90 kDa by SDS-PAGE analysis under reducing conditions.

The recombinant protein is stable for at least 2 years from date of receipt at -20˚ C. Reconstituted protein is stable for at least 3 months when stored in working aliquots with a carrier protein at -20˚ C. As with any protein, exposing the recombinant protein to repeated freeze / thaw cycles is not recommended. When working with proteins care should be taken to keep recombinant protein at a cool and stable temperature.