The binding of peptide fragments of antigens to class II MHC proteins is a crucial step in initiating a helper T cell immune response. The discovery of these peptide epitopes is important for understanding the normal immune response and its misregulation in autoimmunity and allergies and also for vaccine design. In spite of their biomedical importance, the high diversity of class II MHC protein...

Pathogenic mycobacteria infect macrophages where they replicate in phagosomes that minimize contact with late endosomal/lysosomal compartments. Loading of Ags to MHC class II molecules occurs in specialized compartments with late endosomal characteristics. This points to a sequestration of mycobacteria-containing phagosomes from the sites where Ags meet MHC class II molecules. Indeed, in restin...

Major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) molecules are targeted to endocytic compartments, known as MIIC, by the invariant chain (Ii) that is degraded upon arrival in these compartments. MHC II acquire antigenic fragments from endocytosed proteins for presentation at the cell surface. In a unique and complex series of reactions, MHC II succeed in exchanging a remaining fragment of Ii ...

Class II transactivator (CIITA) is an unusual transcriptional coactivator in that it contains a functionally important, GTP-binding consensus domain. To assess the functional role of the GTP-binding domain of CIITA in vivo, we have generated knockout mice that bear a mutation in the CIITA gene spanning the GTP-binding domain. Upon analysis, these mice show no detectable CIITA mRNA; hence, they ...

Antigen presentation requires intracellular processing of native antigens to produce immunogenic peptides that bind to major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) molecules. In functional studies of antigen processing by elicited peritoneal macrophages, MHC-II-peptide complexes were formed intracellularly. Immunogenic peptides were not released to bind surface MHC-II molecules. Ultrastru...

Terminally differentiated plasma cells and mouse T cells do not express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II genes although class II gene expression is observed in pre-B and mature B cells as well as in activated human T cells. Transient heterokaryons were prepared and analyzed to investigate the mechanisms of inactivation of MHC class II gene in mouse plasmarytoma cells and mouse T ...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are essential in glucose and lipid metabolism and are implicated in metabolic disorders predisposing to atherosclerosis, such as diabetes and dyslipidemia. Conversely, antidiabetic glitazones and hypolipidemic fibrate drugs, known as PPARgamma and PPARalpha ligands, respectively, reduce the process of atherosclerotic lesion formation, which in...

Late endosomal multivesicular bodies (MVBs) are complicated organelles with various subdomains located at the limiting membrane and the internal vesicles (ILVs). ILVs accumulate tetraspanins such as CD63 and CD82 that might form protein assemblies, including major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) and its chaperone human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DM. Here, we studied the effect of four...

Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania exist as obligatory intracellular amastigotes and invade macrophages and Langerhans cells, the dendritic cells of the skin. Langerhans cells are much more efficient in presenting Leishmania major antigen to T cells than macrophages are and have the unique ability to retain parasite antigen in immunogenic form for prolonged periods. To analyze the mech...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are essential in glucose and lipid metabolism and are implicated in metabolic disorders predisposing to atherosclerosis, such as diabetes and dyslipidemia. Conversely, antidiabetic glitazones and hypolipidemic fibrate drugs, known as PPAR and PPAR ligands, respectively, reduce the process of atherosclerotic lesion formation, which involves chr...