RESUMEN
We have cloned and sequenced the cDNA for cat CD4. The overall amino-acid sequence of cat CD4 is similar to that from the primate and rodent CD4 molecules, with a 58% identity between the cat and human sequences. Comparison to the crystal structure of human CD4 does, however, reveal unusual features in the second Ig-like domain, D2, of cat CD4. First, a reciprocal substitution between a tryptophan and a cysteine, this latter involved in an intrasheet disulfide bond of human D2, is predicted to generate an intrastrand disulfide bond, a feature rarely observed in an Ig-fold. Second, a large serine-threonine-rich insertion is found between the A and B beta strands of D2. This sequence is a potential O-linked glycosylation site, and should protrude in a region that appears flexible in human CD4. This unusual insertion could affect the interaction of cat CD4 with class II molecules, or with FIV, a feline homolog of HIV. The expression of cat CD4 in different environment, or of a mutated human CD4 carrying the cat insertion, should help in understanding the role of cat CD4 as a putative receptor for FIV, and the CD4/MHC class II interaction.