Transmembrane Helices Are an Over-Presented and Evolutionarily Conserved Source of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I and II Epitopes.

ABSTRACT: Cytolytic T cell responses are predicted to be biased towards membrane proteins. The peptide-binding grooves of most alleles of histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) are relatively hydrophobic, therefore peptide fragments derived from human transmembrane helices (TMHs) are predicted to be presented more often as would be expected based on their abundance in the proteome. However, the physiological reason of why membrane proteins might be over-presented is unclear. In this study, we show that the predicted over-presentation of TMH-derived peptides is general, as it is predicted for bacteria and viruses and for both MHC-I and MHC-II, and confirmed by re-analysis of epitope databases. Moreover, we show that TMHs are evolutionarily more conserved, because single nucleotide polymorphisms (

SUBMITTER: Bilderbeek RJC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8787072 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature