title: MHC molecules as peptide receptors.
abstract: The central unit for regulation of the specific immune system is a trimolecular complex made up of the T cell antigen receptor, the MHC molecule, and the MHC ligand. The third component is a peptide derived as a degradation product from a protein. During recent years there has been some progress in understanding the interaction between MHC molecules and their peptide ligands: MHC molecules are peptide receptors of peculiar specificity, being able to accommodate millions of different peptides provided they share some common features.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute für Biologie, Abteilung Immungenetik, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Rammensee
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rötzschke
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D001692:Biological Transport; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin