Stitching peptides for presentation
Intracellular protein–derived peptides generated by proteasomal degradation are loaded on to class I MHC molecules in the endoplasmic reticulum and presented to CD8+ T cells. Although it has been assumed that these peptides are contiguous segments derived from intracellular proteins, recent studies have shown that noncontiguous peptides generated by cis-splicing of two distinct regions of an antigen can be presented by class I MHC molecules. Here, Faridi et al. demonstrate that class I MHC molecules can present peptides that are generated by splicing together of segments from two distinct proteins and term them to be “trans-spliced” peptides. Precisely how cis- and trans-spliced peptides are generated and how they contribute to T cell selection and expansion remain to be explored.
- Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
