Preferential peptide specificity and HLA restriction of myelin basic protein-specific T cell clones derived from MS patients. |
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Authors: | J W Zhang C H Chou G Hashim R Medaer J C Raus |
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Affiliation: | Department of Immunology, Dr. L. Willems Instituut, Universitaire campus, Diepenbeek, Belgium. |
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Abstract: | A panel of 17 myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T lymphocyte clones were generated from four multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. All T cell clones expressed CD4 phenotype and 14 clones exhibited substantial cytotoxic activity on MBP-coated target cells. T cell recognition sites of the clones on human MBP were identified by using MBP fragments and synthetic peptides. Despite the fact that at least three epitopes were defined, these T cell clones displayed a striking bias to the C-terminal peptide 149-171 independent of differences in HLA-DR and DQ expression. In addition, the T cell responses of the clones appeared to be restricted by HLA-DR molecules irrespective of peptide specificities. The present study suggests an immunodominant property of the C-terminal peptide for HLA-DR-restricted T cell responses to MBP. However, its association with encephalitogenicity in humans and its potential pathologic importance in MS await further clarification. |
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