Endogenous processing and presentation of T-cell epitopes from Chlamydia trachomatis with relevance in HLA-B27-associated reactive arthritis.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydia trachomatis triggers reactive arthritis, a spondyloarthropathy linked to the human major histocompatibility complex molecule HLA-B27, through an unknown mechanism that might involve molecular mimicry between chlamydial and self-derived HLA-B27 ligands. Chlamydia-specific CD8(+) T-cells are found in reactive arthritis patients, but the immunogenic epitopes are unknown. A previous screening of the chlamydial genome for putative HLA-B27 ligands predicted multiple peptides that were recognized in vitro by CD8(+) T-lymphocytes from patients. Here stable transfectants expressing bacterial fusion proteins in human cells were generated to investigate the endogenous processing and presentation by HLA-B27 of two such epitopes through comparative immunoproteomics of HLA-B27-bound peptide re

SUBMITTER: Cragnolini JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2722781 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature