title: A common minimal motif for the ligands of HLA-B*27 class I molecules.
abstract: CD8(+) T cells identify and kill infected cells through the specific recognition of short viral antigens bound to human major histocompatibility complex (HLA) class I molecules. The colossal number of polymorphisms in HLA molecules makes it essential to characterize the antigen-presenting properties common to large HLA families or supertypes. In this context, the HLA-B*27 family comprising at least 100 different alleles, some of them widely distributed in the human population, is involved in the cellular immune response against pathogens and also associated to autoimmune spondyloarthritis being thus a relevant target of study. To this end, HLA binding assays performed using nine HLA-B*2705-restricted ligands endogenously processed and presented in virus-infected cells revealed a common minimal peptide motif for efficient binding to the HLA-B*27 family. The motif was independently confirmed using four unrelated peptides. This experimental approach, which could be easily transferred to other HLA class I families and supertypes, has implications for the validation of new bioinformatics tools in the functional clustering of HLA molecules, for the identification of antiviral cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses, and for future vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barriga
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lorente
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johnstone
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, CSIC/Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: del Val
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: López
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D051379:Mice; D011485:Protein Binding; D055550:Protein Stability; D018113:Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; C464936:HLA-B*27:05 antigen; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D008024:Ligands; D014764:Viral Proteins