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Unnatural Amino Acids Improve Affinity And Modulate Immunogenicity: Developing Peptides To Treat Mhc Type Ii Autoimmune Disorders, Daniel Meister, S. Maryamdokht Taimoory, John F. Trant

Chemistry and Biochemistry Publications

Many autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and celiac disease (CD), arise from improper immune system recognition of self or benign peptides as threats. No autoimmune disease currently has a cure. Many treatments suppress the entire immune system to decrease symptom severity. The core molecular interaction underlying these diseases involves specific alleles of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) receptor hosting the immunodominant peptides associated with the disease (i.e. myelin basic protein, Type II collagen, or α-gliadin) in their binding groove. Once bound, circulating T-cells can recognize the HLA-antigen complex and initiate the complex cascade that forms an …