EXPLORING MYELIN BASIC-PROTEIN FOR HLA CLASS I-BINDING SEQUENCES

In view of the increasing evidence of the involvement of CD8(+) T cell s in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), we have scanned the sequence of the myelin basic protein (MBP), using 162 overlapping nona peptides, for HLA-class I binding sites. Peptide binding was measured using the recently reported HLA class I alpha-chain-refolding assay, a nd the following HLA allelic products were analyzed: HLA-A2 (0201, *0 204), B27 (2705), B35, B51 and B62. A considerable number of binding peptides were distinguished for each of the allelic products tested. I n addition, three interesting points emerged. The first was the identi fication of several binding peptides which did not contain the known a nchor motifs. The second was the evidence that several peptides showed a promiscuous binding profile, being able to bind to different HLA cl ass I molecules that were either allelic or non allelic. The third was that in several cases two consecutive peptides could bind to the same HLA molecule.