The Journal of Immunology, 2002, 168: 253-259.
Copyright © 2002 by The American Association of Immunologists
HLA-DR1 (DRB1*0101) and DR4 (DRB1*0401) Use the Same Anchor Residues for Binding an Immunodominant Peptide Derived from Human Type II Collagen1
Edward F. Rosloniec1,*,
,
,
Karen B. Whittington*,
Dennis M. Zaller
and
Andrew H. Kang*,
*
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, TN 38104; Departments of
Medicine and
Pathology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN 38163; and
Department of Molecular Immunology, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ 07065
 |
Abstract
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Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which
susceptibility is strongly associated with the expression of specific
HLA-DR haplotypes, including DR1 (DRB1*0101) and DR4 (DRB1*0401). As
transgenes, both of these class II molecules mediate susceptibility to
an autoimmune arthritis induced by immunization with human type II
collagen (hCII). The dominant T cell response of both the DR1 and DR4
transgenic mice to hCII is focused on the same determinant core,
CII(263270). Peptide binding studies revealed that the affinity of
DR1 and DR4 for CII(263270) was at least 10 times less than that of
the model Ag HA(307319), and that the affinity of DR4 for the CII
peptide is 3-fold less than that of DR1. As predicted based on the
crystal structures, the majority of the CII-peptide binding affinity
for DR1 and DR4 is controlled by the Phe263;
however, unexpectedly the adjacent Lys264 also contributed
significantly to the binding affinity of the peptide. Only these two
CII amino acids were found to provide binding anchors. Amino acid
substitutions at the remaining positions had either no effect or
significantly increased the affinity of the hCII peptide.
Affinity-enhancing substitutions frequently involved replacement of a
negative charge, or Gly or Pro, hallmark amino acids of CII structure.
These data indicate that DR1 and DR4 bind this CII peptide in a nearly
identical manner and that the primary structure of CII may dictate a
different binding motif for DR1 and DR4 than has been described for
other peptides that bind to these alleles.
 |
Introduction
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Rheumatoid
arthritis (RA)3 is an
autoimmune disease in which susceptibility is strongly associated with
the expression of specific class II molecules, and predominately with
HLA-DR1 (DRB1*0101) and HLA-DR4 (DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0404; Refs.
1, 2, 3, 4). Although RA is considered an autoimmune
disease of unknown etiology, there has been no shortage of Ags proposed
to be initiating or driving the autoimmune response, including viral
proteins from CMV and EBV (5, 6), autologous proteins
expressed in diarthrodial joints such as link and proteoglycan
(7, 8, 9), gp39 (10), and type II collagen (CII;
Refs. 11, 12, 13, 14). In many of these cases, clinical evidence
exists to support the presence of immunity to these Ags
(15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22), but it has been difficult to study this immunity
at the molecular level in the context of the DR susceptibility
alleles.
Recently, animal models have been developed in which DR
alleles associated with susceptibility to RA were established as
transgenes for the purpose of studying the DR-restricted immune
responses to the proposed Ags of RA. In several of these
models, immunization of the DR1 (DRB1*0101) or DR4 (DRB1*0401)
transgenic mice with human or bovine CII resulted in the development of
an autoimmune arthritis (23, 24, 25). Analysis of the
DR-restricted T cell response in these mice indicated that the
immunodominant determinants for both alleles were located within the
same CII peptide sequence and the determinant cores appeared to be the
same, CII(263270) (23, 24, 25). Thus, these data
demonstrated that the autoimmune response to CII observed in RA
patients is likely mediated by the DR alleles that are associated with
susceptibility to the disease, and that the same CII peptide is likely
driving the T cell response mediated by both the DR1 and DR4
alleles.
Based on our observations that both DR1 and DR4 present the
same CII immunodominant peptide, we have analyzed the DR-restricted
presentation of the CII(259273) peptide at the molecular level. Given
the structural differences that exist between DRB1*0101 and DRB1*0401,
and especially the amino acid differences found within the binding
pockets comprised by the second polymorphic regions, we sought to
determine whether these two DR molecules use the same register and
anchor residues in binding of the CII(263270) determinant. Based on T
cell stimulations and peptide binding assays, we have determined that
DR1 and DR4 bind this CII peptide in a very similar manner. Although T
cells clearly discriminate between these two class II molecules, both
DR1 and DR4 use the same two amino acids within CII(259273) as anchor
residues for peptide binding. The binding anchors for this CII peptide,
however, are quite different from that described for the binding of
other peptides to DR1 and DR4. These data indicate that at least two RA
susceptibility alleles are presenting the same peptide derived from a
candidate autoantigen in a very similar manner, supporting the
hypothesis that determinant selection is playing a role in this
HLA-based susceptibility to autoimmunity.
 |
Materials and Methods
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Peptide synthesis
Peptides with site-specific substitutions were synthesized using
the Mimotope cleavable pin technology (Cambridge Research Biochemicals,
Wilmington, DE), essentially as described by Geysen et al.
(26). Active ester F-moc amino acids were coupled via a
diketo-piperizine linkage to solid polyethylene supports. The F-moc
protecting group was removed by treatment with 20% piperidine in
dimethyl formamide (v/v), and following several washes in methanol, the
subsequent F-moc amino acids were added in a step-wise fashion. Upon
completion of the synthesis, the side groups were deprotected with
trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and anisole (95:5, v/v), and terminal amino
groups were acetylated with acetic anhydride in dimethyl formamide and
triethylamine (2:5:1; v/v). The pins were then washed thoroughly to
remove residual TFA and scavengers, soaked in ethanol, and the peptides
were cleaved from the pins into 96-deep-well microtiter plates by
overnight incubation in 750 µl of sterile 50 mM HEPES buffer. Peptide
concentrations were determined by HPLC analysis using 0.1% TFA in
acetonitrile and were found to range from 2 to 5 µg/µl.
Proliferation assays
Mice were immunized s.c. with 100 µg of human type II collagen
(hCII) emulsified in an equal volume of CFA. Ten days after
immunization, draining lymph nodes were removed, disassociated, and
washed in HL-1 (BioWhitaker, Walkersville, MD). Lymphocytes were
cultured in 96-well plates at 4.5 x
105/well in 300 µl of HL-1 medium supplemented
with 50 µM 2-ME and 0.1% BSA (fraction V, IgG free, low endotoxin;
Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) at 37°C in 5% humidified
CO2 for 4 days. Eighteen hours before the
termination of the cultures, 1 µCi of
[3H]thymidine (New England Nuclear, Boston, MA)
was added to each well. Cells were harvested onto glass fiber filters
and were counted on a Matrix 96 direct ionization beta-counter (Packard
Instrument, Meriden CT). Proliferation assays using Mimotope synthetic
peptides were performed at one well per peptide and 20 µg of peptide
per well. Results were confirmed by replicate experiments, and all data
are expressed as dpm.
T cell hybridomas and Ag presentation assays
T cell hybridomas were established by polyethylene glycol-
(Boehringer Mannheim, Indianapolis, IN) induced fusion of lymph node
cells with TCR
-/
-
BW5147 thymoma cells (27, 28). Lymph node cells were
obtained from B10.M-DR1 (DRB1*0101) (24) and B10.M-DR4
(DRB1*0401) (29) mice immunized 10 days previously with
hCII/CFA. The recovered T cells were cultured with human
1(II) for 4
days, followed by IL-2 for 3 days before fusion. Resulting hybridomas
were screened for their ability to recognize human
1(II) chains and
the CII(259273) peptide presented by DR1 or DR4. Ag presentation
experiments were performed in 96-well microtiter plates in a total
volume of 0.3 ml containing 105 APCs or 4 x
105 syngeneic spleen cells and
105 T hybridoma cells. APC used were DRAB
10 cells, MUD45 cells transfected with chimeric DR1 constructs, and
MUM21 cells transfected with chimeric DR4 constructs (29).
Cell cultures were maintained at 37°C in 5% humidified
CO2 for 2024 h, after which 2-fold serial
dilutions were made for determination of IL-2 titers using the
IL-2-addicted cell line HT-2 (24, 25). HT-2 cell viability
was assessed by cleavage of MTT and quantitation of optical density at
650 nm (30, 31). IL-2 titers were quantified by the
reciprocal of the highest 2-fold serial dilution maintaining HT-2 cell
viability greater than 2-fold over control cultures. Results are
presented as units of IL-2 per milliliter of undiluted supernatant as
described by Kappler et al. (32).
Peptide binding assays
Soluble DR1 and DR4 were purified from culture supernatants of
S2 Drosophila cells transfected with DRB1*0101 or DRB1*0401
and DRA1*0101. The cytoplasmic and transmembrane portions of these
molecules were deleted from the cDNA using PCR, a new stop codon was
inserted immediately before the transmembrane domain, and the resulting
cDNA was cloned into the Drosophila expression vector
pRmHA-3. S2 cells were transfected with a 10:1 ratio of DRB1 and DRA1
to pUChsNeo using calcium phosphate precipitation. Soluble DR
production was induced by 1 mM CuSO4, and 5 days
later the culture supernatant was collected and adjusted to 0.05%
octyl glucoside (OcG). The soluble DR was purified by passage of the
supernatant over an affinity column coupled with the anti-DR Ab
LB3.1. The column was washed with 0.05% OcG and 0.15 M NaCl in
phosphate buffer, pH 7.5, followed by 0.05% OcG and 0.5 M NaCl in
phosphate buffer, pH 7.5. The DR was eluted with 100 mM Tris and 0.5 M
NaCl, pH 11.2, and the fractions were immediately neutralized with
acetic acid. The DR recovered was concentrated using an Amicon Stirred
Cell (Amicon, Beverly, MA) and was quantitated by OD 280 absorption and
SDS-PAGE before use.
For binding assays, a 10 nM solution of purified DR1 or DR4 was
incubated for 4 h at 37°C with HA (307319)
peptide (0.5 nM) that had been labeled at the NH2
terminus with biotin (29). Various concentrations of
collagen peptides were added as competitors to HA peptide binding.
Bound peptides were separated from free peptides by immobilizing the DR
molecules on microtiter plates coated with the mAb LB3.1 and subsequent
washing. The Ab was adhered to the plate by an overnight incubation of
a 5 µg/ml solution at 4°C. Bound biotinylated peptides were
detected by incubations with streptavidin-europium followed by a
chelating enhancement solution. Fluorescence was quantitated using a
microplate fluorometer (Delfia model 1234; Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala,
Sweden, and FluoroMark; Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA), and data are expressed
as relative fluorescence units measured. Each binding assay was
performed in duplicate, and data are representative of at least three
experiments.
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Results
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DR1 and DR4-restricted TCR recognition of CII
Using mice transgenic for the HLA-DR1 (DRB1*0101) or DR4
(DRB1*0401), we (24, 25) and others (23) have
previously shown that these DR1 and DR4 molecules bind and present the
same immunodominant peptide from human CII, CII(259273). The
-chains of these two molecules differ by nine amino acids in the
1 domain (90.4% identity), with two of the differences residing in
the first polymorphic region and six in the second polymorphic region
(Table I
). To determine whether the
immunodominant cores of CII(259273) differed for these two class II
molecules, Ala replacements were performed systematically at each
position in the CII peptide, and the ability of the peptides to
stimulate polyclonal T cells and cloned T cell hybridomas was assessed.
As shown in Fig. 1
, using polyclonal
CII-primed lymph node cells, the determinant cores of CII(259273)
appear to be identical for DR1 and DR4. Substitution with Ala at amino
acids 259262 and 271273 had little or no effect on the ability of
the polyclonal T cells to be stimulated by either DR molecule. In
contrast, several substitutions within 263270 either greatly reduced
or eliminated the T cell response. Although the boundaries of the core
determinant appeared to be identical, the role of some amino acids
within the core differed between DR1 and DR4, especially at residue
268. DR4-restricted T cells were tolerant of an Ala at this position,
whereas DR1-restricted T cells were completely unable to respond to the
presentation of this peptide. Despite the high degree of sequence
identity between DR1 and DR4 and the determination that these two class
II molecules appeared to be presenting the same CII determinant, T cell
recognition of the complexes was clearly distinct (Table II
). No cross recognition was observed
between DR1-restricted, CII-specific T cells, and DR4 presentation of
hCII, and vice versa.

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FIGURE 1. Identification of critical residues in HLA-DR1- (DRB1*0101) and DR4-
(DRB1*0401) restricted T cell stimulation with human CII(259273). A
panel of single amino acid Ala analog peptides were tested for their
ability to stimulate proliferation of CII-primed T cells. DR1 and DR4
transgenic mice were immunized with human CII and 10 days later, lymph
node cells were restimulated in vitro for 4 days with the analog
peptides. Proliferation was measured by [3H]thymidine
incorporation and is expressed as DPM. Dotted lines indicate
proliferation of T cells in the absence of Ag. Identical core
determinants were identified for DR1- and DR4-restricted,
CII(259273)-specific T cells.
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To demonstrate that these differences were likely a result of
clonotypic variations mediated by the individual class II molecules,
similar experiments were performed using cloned T cell hybridomas
specific for the same CII peptide, but restricted to either DR1 or DR4
(Figs. 2
and 3
). All of the TCR expressed by these
DR1- and DR4-restricted T cell hybridomas use the TCRBV14 gene segment.
The CDR3 regions of these DR1-restricted BV14 chains are all different
and each T cell hybridoma expresses a different TCRAV chain.
Analysis of a large panel of CII-specific DR1- and DR4-restricted T
cell hybridomas indicated a redundant use of TCRBV14 and BV8 by these
cells. This appeared to be due to selection of these T cells by the
DR-CII complex, as there was no evidence that the TCR repertoire was
significantly skewed toward these BV chains in unimmunized mice
expressing the DR1 or DR4 transgenes.

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FIGURE 2. Clonotypic analysis of the DR1-restricted TCR recognition of human
CII(259273). Clones of DR1-restricted, CII-specific T cell hybridomas
were tested for their ability to recognize a series of CII(259273)
peptides in which each amino acid position was systematically replaced
with an Ala. The Ala at position 261 is naturally occurring and thus
stimulation with this peptide represents the wild-type response.
Although all four T cell hybridomas recognize the same core
determinant, each clone responded differently to the Ala-substituted
peptide panel. All four hybridomas use the TCRBV14 gene segment, but
each has a different N region and expresses a different TCRAV
chain.
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FIGURE 3. Clonotypic analysis of the DR4-restricted TCR recognition of human
CII(259273). Clones of DR4-restricted, CII-specific T cell hybridomas
were tested for their ability to recognize a series of CII(259273)
peptides in which each amino acid position was systematically replaced
with an Ala. The Ala at position 261 is naturally occurring and thus
stimulation with this peptide represents the wild-type response.
Although all four T cell hybridomas recognize the same core
determinant, each clone responded differently to the Ala-substituted
peptide panel. All four hybridomas express the V 14 chain, but each
has a different N region.
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Although the determinant core of CII (263270) is
identical for both alleles, clonotypic variations in the recognition of
this peptide are clearly evident among all eight T cell hybridomas. For
the DR1 restricted clones, only substitutions at 263 (F), 267 (Q), and
270 (K) adversely affected stimulation of all the T cell hybridomas
(Fig. 2
), whereas substitutions at 263 (F), 264 (K), 266 (E), 267 (Q),
and 270 (K) prevented the peptide from being able to stimulate all of
the DR4-restricted T cell clones (Fig. 3
). In general, the sum of the
responses of the T cell clones for each DR restriction closely
resembled the polyclonal response in Fig. 1
.
DR1 and DR4 use the same anchor residues
Soluble DR-peptide binding assays were performed to determine
whether these DR molecules were using the same anchor residues for
binding the CII(263270) determinant and to compare their overall
affinities for the CII(259273) peptide. As can be seen in Fig. 4
, the relative affinity of the DR1
molecule for the CII(259273) peptide is higher than the DR4 affinity
as measured both by competitive binding (Fig. 4
A) and by
direct binding of the CII peptide (Fig. 4
B). Based on
competitive binding, an average 3.8-fold difference in
IC50 values was calculated based on multiple
experiments. Similarly, in the direct binding assay, a significantly
greater amount of CII peptide was required to achieve 50% maximal
binding with DR4 in comparison to DR1 using equimolar quantities of DR.
Both of the DR1 and DR4 relative affinities for the CII peptide,
however, are quite low in comparison with the 10 nM
IC50 of the hemagglutinin peptide HA(307319)
for DR1 (data not shown).

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FIGURE 4. DR1 has a higher affinity for the CII immunodominant peptide than DR4.
Purified DR1 and DR4 (10 nM) were tested for their ability to bind
various concentrations of CII(257274) in a competitive binding assay
using biotinylated HA(307319) as the indicator peptide
(A), or in a direct binding assay using biotinylated
(bio) CII(257274) (B, n = 3 for
both alleles). The amount of HA peptide bound was determined by the
addition of streptavidin-europium and measurement of fluorescence. The
concentration of CII peptide inhibiting 50% of the HA peptide binding
(IC50) was calculated from the linear portion of the
curves. Data are representative of a minimum of four experiments for
the competitive studies, and three experiments for the direct binding
studies.
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Using the Ala substituted peptides, amino acids within CII(259273)
that participated in DR binding and TCR recognition were identified.
For binding to DR1 and DR4, only two amino acids in the CII peptide
were found to contribute significantly to the overall affinity of the
peptide, and the same two were used by both alleles. Only replacement
of the Phe263
(F263) and the adjacent
Lys264 (K264) disrupted binding of the peptide
(Figs. 5
and 6
). The F263 was clearly the
dominant residue in the binding of CII(259273), as Ala substitution
of this amino acid completely prevented any measurable peptide binding
to both DR alleles. Although the effect of substituting the K264 was
not as dramatic, the IC50 was nearly 10-fold
higher for both DR1 and DR4 in comparison with wild-type peptide
binding (Fig. 6
). While Ala substitution of no other amino acids
decreased the binding affinity of the CII(259273) peptide, several
Ala substitutions significantly increased the relative affinity. In the
case of the DR1 binding of this CII peptide, replacement of E266 and
K270 within the determinant core, and amino acids 271273 outside of
the core, resulted in peptides with enhanced affinity (Figs. 5
and 6
).
In the case of DR4 binding, Ala replacement of four different amino
acids located outside of the core determinant (G262, G271, E272, and
P273) generated peptides with significantly higher affinity.
Additionally, Ala replacement of four amino acids within in the core
(G265, E266, G268, and P269) also generated higher affinity peptides
(Fig. 6
).

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FIGURE 5. Identification of anchor residues in CII(259273) for binding to
HLA-DR1 and DR4. Competitive binding assays with soluble DR1 and DR4
and Ala-substituted CII peptides were performed as described in Fig. 4 .
Substitution of only the Phe263 (F263A) and the
Lys264 (K264A) decreased the binding of the CII(259273)
peptide. Ala replacement of the Glu266 (E266A), an amino
acid expected to participate in DR4 binding, actually increased the
binding affinity of the CII peptide for both DR1 and DR4. Data are
representative of three experiments.
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FIGURE 6. Relative binding affinities of HLA-DR1 (DRB1*0101) and HLA-DR4
(DRB1*0401) for Ala-substituted peptides. Ala analog peptides based on
CII(259273) were used in a competitive binding assay to determine
relative affinities based on IC50 concentrations. Despite
polymorphic differences in the 1 domain of DR1 and DR4, identical
anchor residues, F at 263 and K at 264 (striped bars), are used for
binding CII(259273). Dotted lines indicate IC50 of
wild-type CII(259273). Open bars indicate Ala substitutions that
increased the binding affinity of the CII peptide.
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A comparison of the IC50 of the Ala substituted
peptides and their ability to stimulate T cell proliferation allowed
for the identification of DR-binding anchors and TCR contact residues
(Fig. 7
). For the DR1 molecule, these
assignments are quite clear. The binding of the CII(259273) peptide
to DR1 appears to be completely controlled by the F263 and K264
residues (P1 and P2). Based on their high binding affinity and poor
ability to stimulate a polyclonal T cell response, CII amino acids
266268 and 270 appear to be primarily involved in TCR contact. A
similar scenario is also apparent for DR4 presentation of the CII
peptide, although the data for TCR contact are less striking in
comparison with the DR1 data, a likely result of the lower affinity of
the CII peptide for the DR4 allele. As was observed for DR1, F263 and
K264 are clearly involved in DR4 binding; however, the amino acids G265
(P3) and P269 (P7) appear to play a greater role in DR4-restricted T
cell stimulation than with DR1. The remaining core residues, P4-P6 and
P8, all appear to interact with the TCR. These data indicate that
despite all the apparent similarities in DR1 and DR4 presentation of
CII(259273), there are clear differences in how these DR-peptide
complexes interact with their associated CII-specific TCR.
 |
Discussion
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Previously, it had been demonstrated that the DRB1*0401 allele
associated with susceptibility to RA was capable of presenting peptides
derived from human CII and mediating susceptibility to CII-induced
autoimmune arthritis in DR4 transgenic mouse models (23, 25, 33). The molecular interactions between DR4 and the dominant
CII(261273) peptide were further defined, resulting in the
identification of anchor residues and putative TCR interaction sites
(33). Based on our identification of the same
immunodominant CII peptide presented by DRB1*0101 and the
susceptibility of DR1 transgenic mice to autoimmune arthritis, we
sought to determine whether the same core determinant was being
presented by both the DR1 and DR4 molecules and to determine whether
similar or different binding anchors and TCR interactions were used by
these HLA molecules in the presentation of CII(259273) to T cells. In
this study, we have demonstrated that DRB1*0101 and DRB1*0401 use the
same core determinant and the same binding anchors for the presentation
of CII(259273), although the overall binding affinities are clearly
different. While DR1 binds the CII peptide with a greater than 3-fold
higher affinity than DR4, both of these affinities are considerably
lower in comparison with the binding of the HA(307319) peptide.
Although the same core determinant of CII is presented by DR1 and DR4
using the same binding anchors, TCR recognition of these DR:CII peptide
complexes is clearly distinct. T cells only recognize this peptide in
the context of the DR environment in which the cells matured, i.e.
DR1-restricted T-cells do not recognize this CII peptide presented by
the DR4 molecule, and vice versa. At least for the presentation of CII,
the polymorphisms between DR1 and DR4 appear to be primarily
responsible for selection of TCR rather than binding the CII
peptide.
Our data for DR4 binding of the CII peptide differs somewhat from that
described by Andersson et al. (33). As predicted, binding
to both DR molecules involved the interaction of the
Phe263 in the CII peptide with the binding pocket
1 (P1) of DR1 and DR4. Based on the crystal structures and functional
binding data for both of these molecules (34, 35, 36), these
results were predictable. However, the determination that only two CII
residues were participating in binding to both DR1 and DR4 and the
identification of the Lys (position 264 in CII) as the second binding
residue was unexpected. Based on functional and crystallographic data
with DR4 and noncollagenous peptides (36, 37), it was
expected that the side chain of Glu266 in
CII(259273) would have occupied the P4 pocket in DR4. However, we
were unable to find any contribution of the
Glu266 to the overall affinity of the
CII(259273) peptide for DR4 or DR1, and our data actually indicated
that Glu266 was an important residue for TCR
interaction. Although Andersson et al. (33) concluded that
their studies supported the hypothesis that
Glu266 is occupying the P4 pocket, their data,
like ours, indicated that the Lys264 had a
greater overall contribution to peptide binding than
Glu266. In fact, in our experiments, substitution
of the negatively charged Glu266 resulted in a
peptide with substantially increased affinity for both the DR1 and DR4
molecules, although TCR recognition was adversely affected. Enhanced
binding affinities were a frequent observation in our studies when
either negatively charged side chains such as
Glu266 and Glu272 or amino
acids known to disrupt secondary structure were replaced with Ala (Pro
at positions 269 and 273, and Gly at positions 262, 265, 268, and 271).
These data may be a reflection of the contiguous anchor residues at 263
and 264 used for binding to DR1 and DR4. The physical constraint of
using adjoining amino acids to provide sufficient binding energy may
alter the secondary structure of the peptide in the context of the DR
molecule in such a manner that the charged side chain at residue 266
orients in a less favorable position for peptide binding, and more
favorable for TCR interaction, as indicated by our data.
Although the role of CII in the pathogenesis of RA remains uncertain,
there is considerable evidence that autoimmunity to CII exists in RA
patients. Although no direct evidence yet exists to clearly demonstrate
that the CII(261273) determinant is also immunodominant in humans,
CII-specific Ab can be found in the serum and synovial fluid of a
significant proportion of RA patients (17, 20, 38, 39, 40, 41),
and both CII-specific B cells (42) and T cells (18, 22, 43) have been found in the affected synovial joints of RA
patients. Through the use of HLA-DR1 and DR4 transgenic mice (24, 25, 33), it appears quite certain that this observed
autoimmunity to CII is mediated by the DR1 and DR4 alleles that are
associated with susceptibility to RA, and that both the DRB1*0401 and
DRB1*0101 molecules present the same immunodominant peptide.
Nevertheless, these observations are supported by CII peptide binding
studies that used a large number of DR alleles in which binding of the
CII(259273) dominant peptide was found to be preferentially
associated with RA susceptibility alleles (44). Thus,
these data support the hypothesis that determinant selection is playing
a role in mediating susceptibility to RA (37), and that
CII presentation may be preferentially restricted to RA susceptibility
alleles. Whether this determinant selection is operating strictly as an
immune response stimulus for T cells in the periphery or also as a
factor in thymic education and selection is unknown. For example, it is
possible that given the low-affinity interaction of the CII peptide
with DR1 and DR4, CII-specific T cells may avoid negative selection in
the thymus and thus be allowed to establish their presence in the
periphery. Because it was first demonstrated that the function of MHC
molecules was to bind peptides, hypotheses have been proposed that
autoimmunity was the result of a low-affinity interaction between the
associated susceptible MHC molecule and the putative autoantigen.
Why would a peptide derived from CII have a different binding
"motif" for DR1 and DR4 than that described for other peptides? One
possible explanation is that the way in which the CII peptide interacts
with these DR molecules is a direct consequence of the unusual primary
sequence of CII, a continuous repeating Gly-X-Y pattern, where X and Y
are frequently Pro, resulting in a conformational structure of an
extended
helix. Thus, due to the lack of a side chain on Gly, the
number of side chains available within the CII protein to occupy
binding pockets in an HLA molecule are reduced by one-third. This point
is clearly evident in the CII (259273) binding data. Gly
residues are located in both the P6 and P9 positions, thus preventing
the peptide from using these pockets for binding. This, in combination
with the repetitive sequence of the CII molecule, appears to greatly
limit the number of potential peptides within CII capable of binding to
these DR molecules and stimulate a T cell response (24, 25). This was also found to be true in peptide determinant
analysis of CII in the context of a murine class II molecule
(45). Finally, it is interesting to note that in the
identification of CII peptides presented in three models of autoimmune
arthritis, all three immunodominant peptides are located within the
same limited region within CII, residues 260273 (23, 24, 25, 46). Additionally, subdominant determinants for DR1 and DR4 are
located 18 amino acids to the carboxy terminus of CII(259273)
(24, 25), and yet another determinant was identified for a
nonarthritogenic response seven residues to the amino terminus of this
sequence (24, 25). Given that the
1 chain of CII is
composed of >1000 amino acids, it was unexpected to find all the
antigenic determinants clustered within one small region of this large
molecule. One possible explanation may be that this region of CII,
based on sequence similarity matrix plots, is "unique" in
comparison with the rest of the CII amino acid sequence. Unlike the
rest of the CII molecule that is composed of frequently repeated,
highly homologous stretches of amino acids, this immunogenic region of
CII appears to be unique onto the rest of the molecule. Therefore, this
region may provide not only the necessary amino acids required for
binding to most class II molecules, but may also provide a "unique"
immunological target for focusing the autoimmune response. In addition,
due to this unusual primary sequence and the triple
helical
conformation of CII, processing of this molecule may differ from that
of globular proteins, making it difficult to generate peptides that are
capable of binding to the class II molecules.
 |
Footnotes
|
|---|
1 This work was supported in part by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (to E.R and A.K.) and by a U.S. Public Health Service Grants AR45201 (to E.R.) and AR45987 (to A.K.) from the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases. 
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Edward F. Rosloniec, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Research Service (151), 1030 Jefferson Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104. E-mail address: erosloniec{at}utmem.edu 
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: RA, rheumatoid arthritis; TFA, trifluoroacetic acid; OcG, octyl glucoside; hCII, human type II collagen. 
Received for publication January 23, 2001.
Accepted for publication October 26, 2001.
 |
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