Analysis of a conformational B cell epitope of human thyroid peroxidase: identification of a tyrosine residue at a strategic location for immunodominance

Int Immunol. 2002 Apr;14(4):359-66. doi: 10.1093/intimm/14.4.359.

Abstract

Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) is involved in autoimmune thyroid diseases and high titers of TPO autoantibodies directed to various conformational B cell epitopes are frequently present in patients' sera. Deciphering these epitopes is a difficult task, but can give insight into the structural basis of autoimmune recognition. TPO is a membrane-bound enzyme with the extracellular part organized in three protein domains, but of unknown three-dimensional structure. We previously localized a TPO B cell epitope within amino acid residues 742-848, a region encompassing the two C-terminal, extracellular domains of the protein. We found that at least one of the three tyrosine residues of the peptide 742-848 might be involved in autoantibody binding. In this study, we show by site-directed mutagenesis that the autoepitope contains tyrosine 772 located near the hinge area between the two protein domains, suggesting they are both involved in the epitope structure. The B cell epitopes of TPO are clustered in two overlapping immunodominant regions. To map the newly localized epitope with respect of these regions, competition experiments were performed using a reference panel of TPO mAb and a further mAb previously found to be specific for the TPO peptide 742-848 at variance with all the other ones. Here, we show that the tyrosine 772-bearing epitope in the peptide 742-848 maps in a region that partly overlaps the reported two immunodominant regions. These results are suggestive of a complex TPO folding that involves all the three TPO protein domains to form a highly conformational immunodominant region.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • CHO Cells
  • Circular Dichroism
  • Cricetinae
  • DNA Primers
  • Epitope Mapping
  • Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / chemistry*
  • Humans
  • Immunodominant Epitopes / metabolism
  • Iodide Peroxidase / analysis
  • Iodide Peroxidase / genetics
  • Iodide Peroxidase / immunology*
  • Models, Immunological
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Recombinant Proteins / analysis
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Transfection
  • Tyrosine / analysis*
  • Tyrosine / metabolism

Substances

  • DNA Primers
  • Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte
  • Immunodominant Epitopes
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Tyrosine
  • Iodide Peroxidase