Chromogranin A is an autoantigen in type 1 diabetes

Nat Immunol. 2010 Mar;11(3):225-31. doi: 10.1038/ni.1844. Epub 2010 Feb 7.

Abstract

Autoreactive CD4(+) T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases, but the antigens that stimulate their responses have been difficult to identify and in most cases are not well defined. In the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of type 1 diabetes, we have identified the peptide WE14 from chromogranin A (ChgA) as the antigen for highly diabetogenic CD4(+) T cell clones. Peptide truncation and extension analysis shows that WE14 bound to the NOD mouse major histocompatibility complex class II molecule I-A(g7) in an atypical manner, occupying only the carboxy-terminal half of the I-A(g7) peptide-binding groove. This finding extends the list of T cell antigens in type 1 diabetes and supports the idea that autoreactive T cells respond to unusually presented self peptides.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Autoantigens / immunology*
  • Chromogranin A / immunology*
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / immunology*
  • Epitopes / immunology
  • HLA-A Antigens
  • Insulin-Secreting Cells / immunology*
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Peptide Fragments / immunology*

Substances

  • Autoantigens
  • Chromogranin A
  • Epitopes
  • HLA-A Antigens
  • Peptide Fragments
  • WE14 protein, mouse