Figure 1.
CD59 structure. (A) Native GPI-anchored CD59 compared with (B) rhCD59-P structure. The membrane-localizing unit in rhCD59-P comprises 2 myristoyl groups linked to a common N-terminal lysine residue in a charged hydrophilic peptide terminating in a cysteine residue. A 2-site interaction of such molecules with the hydrophobic interior of the membrane bilayer and with phospholipid headgroups is proposed to account for the affinity of this structure for outer cell membranes.20 The unit is linked to the C-terminus of recombinant human CD59 through an unpaired cysteine residue in the latter.