Three dimensional structure directs T-cell epitope dominance associated with allergy

BACKGROUND: CD4+ T-cell epitope immunodominance is not adequately explained by peptide selectivity in class II major histocompatibility proteins, but it has been correlated with adjacent segments of conformational flexibility in several antigens. METHODS: The published T-cell responses to two venom allergens and two aeroallergens were used to construct profiles of epitope dominance, which were correlated with the distribution of conformational flexibility, as measured by crystallographic B factors, solvent-accessible surface, COREX residue stability, and sequence entropy. RESULTS: Epitopes associated with allergy tended to be excluded from and lie adjacent to flexible segments of the allergen. CONCLUSION: During the initiation of allergy, the N- and/or C-terminal ends of proteolytic processing intermediates were preferentially loaded into antigen presenting proteins for the priming of CD4+ T cells.