PMID: 12429093 , Related PDB id: 1KGC

Authors:

Kjer-Nielsen L, Clements CS, Brooks AG, Purcell AW, McCluskey J, Rossjohn J

Title:

The 1.5 A crystal structure of a highly selected antiviral T cell receptor provides evidence for a structural basis of immunodominance.

Journal:

Structure. 2002 Nov;10(11):1521-32.

Abstract:

Despite a potential repertoire of >10(15) alphabeta T cell receptors (TcR), the HLA B8-restricted cytolytic T cell response to a latent antigen of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is strikingly limited in the TcR sequences that are selected. Even in unrelated individuals this response is dominated by a single highly restricted TcR clonotype that selects identical combinations of hypervariable Valpha, Vbeta, D, J, and N region genes. We have determined the 1.5 A crystal structure of this "public" TcR, revealing that five of the six hypervariable loops adopt novel conformations providing a unique combining site that contains a deep pocket predicted to overlay the HLA B8-peptide complex. The findings suggest a structural basis for the immunodominance of this clonotype in the immune response to EBV.