T cell receptor reversed polarity recognition of a self-antigen major histocompatibility complex.

Beringer, Dennis X; Kleijwegt, Fleur S; Wiede, Florian; van der Slik, Arno R; Loh, Khai Lee; Petersen, Jan; Dudek, Nadine L; Duinkerken, Gaby; Laban, Sandra; Joosten, Antoinette; Vivian, Julian P; Chen, Zhenjun; Uldrich, Adam P; Godfrey, Dale I; McCluskey, James; Price, David A; Radford, Kristen J; Purcell, Anthony W; Nikolic, Tatjana; Reid, Hugh H

Central to adaptive immunity is the interaction between the αβ T cell receptor (TCR) and peptide presented by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecule. Presumably reflecting TCR-MHC bias and T cell signaling constraints, the TCR universally adopts a canonical polarity atop the MHC. We report the structures of two TCRs, derived from human induced T regulatory (iTreg) cells, complexed to an MHC class II molecule presenting a proinsulin-derived peptide. The ternary complexes revealed a 180° polarity reversal compared to all other TCR-peptide-MHC complex structures. Namely, the iTreg TCR α-chain and β-chain are overlaid with the α-chain and β-chain of MHC class II, respectively. Nevertheless, this TCR interaction elicited a peptide-reactive, MHC-restricted T cell signal. Thus TCRs are not 'hardwired' to interact with MHC molecules in a stereotypic manner to elicit a T cell signal, a finding that fundamentally challenges our understanding of TCR recognition.

T cell receptors; CELL polarity; CELLULAR recognition; AUTOANTIGENS; MAJOR histocompatibility complex; CELL communication

Nature Immunology, 2015, Vol 16, Issue 11, p1153

1529-2908

Academic Journal

10.1038/ni.3271