Zoonotic orthopoxviruses encode a high-affinity antagonist of NKG2D.

ABSTRACT: NK and T lymphocytes express both activating and inhibiting receptors for various members of the major histocompatibility complex class I superfamily (MHCISF). To evade immunologic cytotoxicity, many viruses interfere with the function of these receptors, generally by altering the displayed profile of MHCISF proteins on host cells. Using a structurally constrained hidden Markov model, we discovered an orthopoxvirus protein, itself distantly class I-like, that acts as a competitive antagonist of the NKG2D activating receptor. This orthopoxvirus MHC class I-like protein (OMCP) is conserved among cowpox and monkeypox viruses, secreted by infected cells, and bound with high affinity by NKG2D of rodents and humans (K(D) approximately 30 and 0.2 nM, respectively). OMCP blocks recognition of host

SUBMITTER: Campbell JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2118624 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature