Pan-Specific Prediction of Peptide-MHC Class I Complex Stability, a Correlate of T Cell Immunogenicity.

Journal: Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
Published Date:

Abstract

Binding of peptides to MHC class I (MHC-I) molecules is the most selective event in the processing and presentation of Ags to CTL, and insights into the mechanisms that govern peptide-MHC-I binding should facilitate our understanding of CTL biology. Peptide-MHC-I interactions have traditionally been quantified by the strength of the interaction, that is, the binding affinity, yet it has been shown that the stability of the peptide-MHC-I complex is a better correlate of immunogenicity compared with binding affinity. In this study, we have experimentally analyzed peptide-MHC-I complex stability of a large panel of human MHC-I allotypes and generated a body of data sufficient to develop a neural network-based pan-specific predictor of peptide-MHC-I complex stability. Integrating the neural network predictors of peptide-MHC-I complex stability with state-of-the-art predictors of peptide-MHC-I binding is shown to significantly improve the prediction of CTL epitopes. The method is publicly available at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetMHCstabpan.

Authors

  • Michael Rasmussen
    Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Emilio Fenoy
    Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, San Martín, B 1650 HMP, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and.
  • Mikkel Harndahl
    Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 N Copenhagen, Denmark;
  • Anne Bregnballe Kristensen
    Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 N Copenhagen, Denmark;
  • Ida Kallehauge Nielsen
    Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 N Copenhagen, Denmark;
  • Morten Nielsen
    Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
  • Søren Buus
    Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200, Copenhagen, Denmark.