THE ENDOPLASMIC-RETICULUM RESIDENT STRESS PROTEIN GP96 BINDS PEPTIDESTRANSLOCATED BY TAP

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident stress protein gp96 induces a major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted cytotoxic T lympho cyte (CTL) response against antigens present in the cells from which i t has been prepared. In this study, photoreactive peptides were transl ocated into the ER by the trans porter associated with antigen process ing (TAP). These peptides can be crosslinked specifically to gp96. Thu s, we provide the first evidence that gp96 binds TAP-translocated pept ides which have been implicated in the induction of specific CTL respo nses after immunization with gp96 (Srivastava, P. K. et al., Immunogen etics 1994. 39: 93).