Viral escape at the molecular level explained by quantitative T-cell receptor/peptide/MHC interactions and the crystal structure of a peptide/MHC complex
Ac. Tissot et al., Viral escape at the molecular level explained by quantitative T-cell receptor/peptide/MHC interactions and the crystal structure of a peptide/MHC complex, J MOL BIOL, 302(4), 2000, pp. 873-885
Viral escape, first characterized for the lymphocytic choriomeningitis viru
s (LCMV) in a mouse transgenic for the P14 T cell-receptor (TCR), can be du
e to mutations in T-cell epitopes. We have measured the affinity between th
e H-2D(b) containing the wild-type and two of its "viral escape" epitopes,
as well as other altered peptide ligands (APL), by using BIACORE analysis,
and solved the crystal structure of H-2D(b) in complex with the wild-type p
eptide at 2.75 Angstrom resolution. We show that viral escape is due to a 5
0 to 100-fold reduction in the level of affinity between the P14 TCR and th
e binary complexes of the MHC molecule with the different peptides. Structu
rally, one of the mutations alters a TCR contact residue, while the effect
of the other on the binding of the TCR must be indirect through structural
rearrangements. The former is a null ligand, while the latter still leads t
o some central tolerance. This work defines the structural and energetic th
reshold for viral escape. (C) 2000 Academic Press.