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Title: ERAP1 enzyme-mediated trimming and structural analyses of MHC I–bound precursor peptides yield novel insights into antigen processing and presentation

Journal Article · · Journal of Biological Chemistry

Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1) and ERAP2 critically shape the major histocompatibility complex I (MHC I) immunopeptidome. The ERAPs remove N-terminal residues from antigenic precursor peptides and generate optimal-length peptides (i.e. 8–10-mers) to fit into the MHC class I groove. It is therefore intriguing that MHC class I molecules can present N-terminally extended peptides on the cell surface that can elicit CD8+ T-cell responses. This observation likely reflects gaps in our understanding of how antigens are processed by the ERAP enzymes. To better understand ERAPs' function in antigen processing, here we generated a nested set of N-terminally extended 10–20-mer peptides (RA)nAAKKKYCL covalently bound to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*0801. We used X-ray crystallography, thermostability assessments, and an ERAP1-trimming assay to characterize these complexes. The X-ray structures determined at 1.40–1.65 Å resolutions revealed that the residue extensions (RA)n unexpectedly protrude out of the A pocket of HLA-B*0801, whereas the AAKKKYCL core of all peptides adopts similar, bound conformations. HLA-B*0801 residue 62 was critical to open the A pocket. We also show that HLA-B*0801 and antigenic precursor peptides form stable complexes. Finally, ERAP1-mediated trimming of the MHC I–bound peptides required a minimal length of 14 amino acids. We propose a mechanistic model explaining how ERAP1-mediated trimming of MHC I–bound peptides in cells can generate peptides of canonical as well as noncanonical lengths that still serve as stable MHC I ligands. Our results provide a framework to better understand how the ERAP enzymes influence the MHC I immunopeptidome.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Inst. of Health
Grant/Contract Number:
R01 AI114467; R01 AI108546
OSTI ID:
1591907
Journal Information:
Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 294, Issue 49; ISSN 0021-9258
Publisher:
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 19 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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