Cloning of the mycobacterial epitope recognized by T lymphocytes in adjuvant arthritis.
Adjuvant arthritis (AA) is a chronic disease inducible in rats by immunization with an antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. After the isolation of arthritogenic T-cell lines and clones, it became possible to demonstrate that the critical M. tuberculosis antigen contained an epitope cross-reactive with a self-antigen in joint cartilage. Like AA rats, patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated specific T-lymphocyte reactivity to the M. tuberculosis fraction containing the cross-reactive epitope. To characterize the critical M. tuberculosis epitope we used AA T-cell clones to screen mycobacterial antigens expressed in Escherichia coli and genetically engineered truncated proteins and synthetic peptides. The AA T-cell clones recognized an epitope formed by the amino acids at positions 180-188 in the sequence of a Mycobacterium bovis BCG antigen. Administration of this antigen to rats induced resistance to subsequent attempts to produce AA.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001168:Arthritis / Q000276:immunology*; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000276:immunology*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002999:Clone Cells; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000939:Epitopes; D006801:Humans; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000378:metabolism; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000939:Epitopes; D010455:Peptides