title: Measles virus hemagglutinin epitopes are potential hotspots for crossreactions with immunodeficiency-related proteins.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Measles virus (MV) infection induces a protective immunity that is accompanied by a transient pathologic suppression of the immune system. This immunologic paradox remains unexplained in spite of the numerous hypotheses that have been advanced (i.e., cytokine production, soluble immunosuppressive factor, cell cycle block, signaling lymphocyte activation molecule receptor and MV infection of dendritic cells, among others).
  
  
  METHODS
  Searching for molecular link(s) between MV infection and host immunodeficiency, this study used the Immune Epitope DataBase to analyze the peptide sharing between the antigenic MV hemagglutinin (H) protein and human proteins associated with immunodeficiency.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that the majority of MVH derived epitopes share several exact pentapeptide sequences with numerous human proteins involved in immune functions and immunodeficiency, such as B- and T-cell antigens, and complement components.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data suggest that crossreactivity might contribute to our understanding of the link between MV immunogenicity and MV-induced immunosuppression, and highlight peptides unique to MV as a basis for developing effective and safe anti-MV vaccines.
authors: Darja
authors: D
authors: Kanduc
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008459:Measles virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D001324:Autoantigens; D000939:Epitopes; D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral; C032397:hemagglutinin protein G, measles virus
keywords: MV immunogenicity; MV-induced immunosuppression; MVH-derived epitopes; immunodeficiency-associated proteins; peptide crossreactivity; peptide sharing