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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Viral escape, first characterized for the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in a mouse transgenic for the P14 T cell-receptor (TCR), can be due to mutations in T-cell epitopes. We have measured the affinity between the 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 peptide at 2.75 A resolution. We show that viral escape is due to a 50 to 100-fold reduction in the level of affinity between the P14 TCR and the binary complexes of the MHC molecule with the different peptides. Structurally, 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 to some central tolerance. This work defines the structural and energetic threshold for viral escape.

Viral escape at the molecular level explained by quantitative T-cell receptor/peptide/MHC interactions and the crystal structure of a peptide/MHC complex.,Tissot AC, Ciatto C, Mittl PR, Grutter MG, Pluckthun A J Mol Biol. 2000 Sep 29;302(4):873-85. PMID:10993729^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.