Pinpointing the putative heparin/sialic acid-binding residues in the ‘sushi’ domain 7 of factor H: a molecular modeling study

Factor H, a secretory glycoprotein comprising 20 short consensus repeat (SCR) or 'sushi' domains of about 60 amino acids each, is a regulator of the complement system. The complement-regulatory functions of factor H are targeted by its binding to polyanions such as heparin/sialic acid, involving SCRs 7 and 20. Recently, the SCR 7 heparin-binding site was shown to be co-localized with the Streptococcus Group A M protein binding site on factor H (T.K. Blackmore et al., Infect. Immun. 66, 1427 (1998)). Using sequence analysis of all heparin-binding domains of factor H and its closest homologues, molecular modeling of SCRs 6 and 7, and surface electrostatic potential studies, the residues implicated in heparin/sialic acid binding to SCR 7 have been localized to four regions of sequence space containing stretches of basic as well as histidine residues. The heparin-binding site is spatially compact and lies near the interface between SCRs 6 and 7, with residues in the interdomain linker playing a significant role.