Unexpected T-cell recognition of an altered peptide ligand is driven by reversed thermodynamics

• The molecular basis underlying T-cell recognition of MHC molecules presenting altered peptide ligands is still not wellestablished. A hierarchy of T-cell activation by MHC class I-restricted altered peptide ligands has been defined using the T-cell receptor P14 specific for H-2Db in complex with the immunodominant lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus peptide gp33 (KAVYNFATM). While substitution of tyrosine to phenylalanine (Y4F) or serine (Y4S) abolished recognition by P14, the TCR unexpectedly recognized H-2Db in complex with the alanine-substituted semiagonist Y4A, which displayed the most significant structural modification. The observed functional hierarchy gp33 > Y4A > Y4S = Y4F was neither due to higher stabilization capacity nor to differences in structural conformation. However, thermodynamic analysis demonstrated that while recognition of the full agonist H-2Db/gp33 was strictly enthalpy driven, recognition of the weak agonist H-2Db/Y4A was instead entropy driven with a large reduction in the favorable enthalpy term. The fourfold larger negative heat capacity derived for the interaction of P14 with H-2Db/gp33 compared with H-2Db/Y4A can possibly be explained by higher water entrapment at the TCR/MHC interface, which is also consistent with the measured opposite entropy contributions for the interactions of P14 with both MHCs. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that P14 makes use of different strategies to adapt to structural modifications in the MHC/peptide complex.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Immunologi inom det medicinska området (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Immunology in the medical area (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Immunologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Immunology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

MHC

Molecular immunology

Protein-protein interactions

Structural biology

TCR

major histocompatibility complex

receptor cross-reactivity

structural

basis

tcr-binding

crystal-structure

high-affinity

human

beta(2)-microglobulin

conformational-changes

molecular-mechanisms

viral escape

MHC

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)