S. Henriot et al., Haptenization of ovalbumin with the skin sensitizer methyl octanesulfonate: Characterization of the methylated OVA323-339 T-cell epitope at His331, J PEPT SCI, 7(6), 2001, pp. 331-337
Our interest is focused on the induction of allergic contact dermatitis (AC
D) by the strong skin sensitizer, methyl octanesulfonate, which is a potent
methyl transfer agent, especially to histidine and methionine residues. We
are particularly interested to study the effect of methylation on the pres
entation and recognition of the ovalbumin (OVA) T-cell epitope. OVA323-339,
by the T-cell receptor (TCR). Here we report the synthesis of the modified
monomer N-alpha -Fmoc-N-tau -methyl-L-histidine and its incorporation by s
olid phase synthesis into the three possible methylated analogues of OVA323
-339, that were needed as references for the subsequent studies. Native OVA
was haptenized by methyl octanesulfonate. Using classical protein chemistr
y techniques (trypsin digestion, gel permeation, HPLC, MS and Edman sequenc
ing) we were able to show that OVA323-339 was selectively methylated at His
331. Circular dichroism (CD) studies showed that the methylation has no inf
luence on the secondary structure of the peptide. Copyright (C) 2001 Europe
an Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons. Ltd,