How MHC class II molecules work: peptide-dependent completion of protein folding.
It is now clear that peptides play a key role in stabilizing the structure of MHC class II molecules. Here, Scheherazade Sadegh-Nasseri and Ron Germain propose that newly synthesized MHC class II, and indeed class I, molecules behave like partially folded proteins, with peptides acting as a surrogate portion of the MHC polypeptide structure that is necessary for completion of conformational maturation.
Sadegh-Nasseri
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Lymphocyte Biology Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Germain
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D000818:Animals; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D011487:Protein Conformation; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000737:chemistry*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta