Amino Acid Similarity Accounts for T Cell Cross-Reactivity and for “Holes” in the T Cell Repertoire
2008
Amino Acid Similarity and T Cell Cross-Reactivity
Sample size: 171
publication
Evidence: moderate
Author Information
Author(s): Frankild Sune, de Boer Rob J., Lund Ole, Nielsen Morten, Kesmir Can
Primary Institution: Technical University of Denmark
Hypothesis
Can T cell cross-reactivity be predicted based on amino acid similarity?
Conclusion
T cell cross-reactivity can be explained by amino acid similarity, which helps clarify discussions in the field.
Supporting Evidence
- T cell receptors can recognize diverse peptides with low sequence identity.
- A model based on amino acid similarity can predict T cell cross-reactivity.
- Cross-reactive T cell ligands share more biochemical similarity than unrelated peptides.
Takeaway
T cells can recognize many different proteins, even if they look different, because they can tell how similar the proteins are.
Methodology
The study analyzed peptide scans and developed a model of TCR peptide recognition using amino acid similarity matrices.
Limitations
The model does not account for position-specific effects of amino acid substitutions.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.0001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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