Excess β2 microglobulin promoting functional peptide association with purified soluble class I MHC molecules (original) (raw)

Nature volume 349, pages 74–77 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

T LYMPHOCYTES expressing αβ receptors recognize antigenic peptide fragments bound to major histocompatibility complex class I (ref. 1) or class II (ref. 2) molecules present on the surface membranes of other cells. Peptide fragments are present in the two available HLA crystal structures3,4 and recent data indicate that peptide is required for the stable folding of the class I heavy chain and maintenance of its association with the class I light chain, _β_2-microglobulin (_β_2m), at physiological temperature5–7. To explain how the exogeneous peptide used to create targets for cytotoxic cells bearing CDS antigen1 could associate with apparently peptide-filled extracellular class I molecules, we hypothesized that stable binding of exogenous peptide to mature class I molecules reflects either the replacement of previously bound peptide during the well documented _β_2m exchange process8 or the loading of 'empty' class I heavy chains dependent on the availability of excess β 2m. In either case, free β2m should enhance peptide/class I binding. Using either isolated soluble class I molecules or living cells, we show here that free purified _β_2m markedly augments the generation of antigenic complexes capable of T-cell stimulation.

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Author notes

  1. Hidemi Takahashi
    Present address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, 113, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
    Steven Kozlowski, Lisa F. Boyd & David H. Margulies
  2. Lymphocyte Biology Sections, Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
    Wolf-Henning Boehncke & Ronald N. Germain
  3. Molecular Immunogenetics and Vaccine Research Section, Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA
    Toshiyuki Takeshita, Hidemi Takahashi & Jay A. Berzofsky

Authors

  1. Steven Kozlowski
  2. Toshiyuki Takeshita
  3. Wolf-Henning Boehncke
  4. Hidemi Takahashi
  5. Lisa F. Boyd
  6. Ronald N. Germain
  7. Jay A. Berzofsky
  8. David H. Margulies

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Kozlowski, S., Takeshita, T., Boehncke, WH. et al. Excess β2 microglobulin promoting functional peptide association with purified soluble class I MHC molecules.Nature 349, 74–77 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/349074a0

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