Antigen recognition by B cells: antibody-antigen interactions at the atomic level.

Despite the wealth of information concerning the structure of the antibody-combining site and the interactions involved in the binding of small molecule haptens, there is considerable debate about the way in which antibodies recognize and bind to the surfaces of foreign proteins. Two recent crystallographic analyses of antibody molecules complexed with protein antigens have provided the first glimpses of the nature of this interaction at the atomic level.