title: A molecule's right to choose: how diabetogenic class II MHC products bind peptides.
abstract: The distinction between peptides that bind to class II MHC products under laboratory conditions and those that do so physiologically is important for the prediction of antigens recognized by autoreactive T cells. In this issue of the JCI, Suri et al., using antigen-presenting cells, compared the peptides that bound to human HLA-DQ8 and those that bound to mouse I-A, both class II MHC products that predispose their carriers to type 1 diabetes. The rules of engagement for the peptide ligands of the DQ8 and I-A molecules involve similarities in their anchor residues, which mediate stable interaction with class II MHC products. The peptides identified derive from overlapping sets of self proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ploegh@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Hidde L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ploegh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; C109756:HLA-DQ8 antigen; D010455:Peptides