Effect of a Tyr-to-His point-mutation at position 59 in the alpha-1 helix of the HLA-B27 class-I molecule on allospecific and virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte recognition

Differences in peptide presentation between B27 subtypes: the importance of the P1 side chain in maintaining high affinity peptide binding to B*2703

Susceptibility to spondyloarthropathies is strongly associated with the MHC class I molecule HLA-B27, and is hypothesized to result from the presentation of arthritogenic peptides. Subtypes of B27 that differ structurally but are disease-associated ought to be capable of presenting such peptides, while nondisease-associated subtypes would not. We demonstrate that B*2703, the predominant West African B27 subtype that may not predispose to disease, is not recognized by most B*2705-alloreactive CTL, and does not efficiently present a known B*2705-restricted influenza A nucleoprotein (NP) peptide. We show inefficient presentation is due to a reduced binding affinity of B*2703 for the NP peptide. Furthermore, substituting Arg for the naturally occurring Ser at P1 of the NP peptide, restores high affinity binding and efficient presentation by B*2703. Our results suggest that B*2703 will bind and present efficiently only a subset of the peptides that bind to B*2705, in particular those with Arg or Lys at P1. The apparent lack of disease in individuals with B*2703 may be due to an inability to bind and present putative arthritogenic peptides.

Different HLA-B27 subtypes present the same immunodominant Epstein-Barr virus peptide

An immunological basis has been postulated for the strong association between at least five subtypes of the HLA-B27 allele (B27.01, .02, .04, .05, and .06) and ankylosing spondylitis, namely that cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses are induced against an "arthritogenic" peptide that these different subtypes can all present. This requires a degree of overlap between the peptide binding repertoires of different B27 molecules. The present work, using CTL responses to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as a model system in which to identify B27-restricted epitopes, provides the first direct evidence that different disease-related alleles can present the same immunodominant peptide. We first noted that EBV-specific CTL clones, whether from B27.05-, B27.02-, or B27.04-positive donors, were largely subtype-specific in their restriction, recognizing only EBV-transformed B cell lines of the relevant B27 subtype. However, when tested against targets expressing individual EBV proteins from recombinant vaccinia virus vectors, all B27.05-restricted, all B27.02-restricted, and a proportion of B27.04-restricted clones were reactive to the same viral nuclear antigen, Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen (EBNA)3C. In subsequent peptide sensitization assays, all the EBNA3C-specific clones tested and also the EBNA3C-specific component within polyclonal CTL preparations from B27.05-, B27.02-, or B27.04-positive donors recognized the same immunodominant viral peptide RRIYDLIEL (EBNA3C residues 258-266). This sequence accords well with the proposed B27.05 peptide motif and clearly must be accommodated within the different peptide binding grooves of B27.05, B27.02, and B27.04 molecules. Clonal analysis revealed a second component of the B27.04-restricted response that was not shared with other subtypes. This was directed against an EBV latent membrane protein LMP2 epitope whose sequence RRRWRRLTV satisfies some but not all requirements of the B27.05 peptide motif. We conclude that there is indeed a degree of functional overlap between different B27 subtypes in their selection and presentation of CTL epitopes.