Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 24, 2026

Use of Single Chain MHC Technology to Investigate Co-agonism in Human CD8+ T Cell Activation
Published on: February 28, 2019
The role of mRNA translation in direct MHC class I antigen presentation
Sébastien Apcher1, Bénédicte Manoury, Robin Fåhraeus
1Cibles Therapeutiques, INSERM UMRS940, Institut de Génétique Moléculaire, Université Paris 7, Hôpital St. Louis, 27 rue Juliette Dodu, 75010 Paris, France.
It has been over 40 years since it was discovered that the major histocompatibility (MHC) class I molecules present peptides for the CD8 T cell-mediated immune response. The pathways for delivering and processing peptides for the MHC class I complexes have since been thoroughly studied but it is only until more recently that we start to understand the mechanisms that provide peptide material for the endogenous MHC class I pathway. Interestingly, the main source of antigenic peptide substrates does not come from the same mRNA translation mechanism that produces full length proteins but from ribosomes which products sole purpose might be to produce antigenic peptide substrates. We will discuss the latest development in this field and its implications for a better understanding of one of the corner stones for how the immune system distinguishes between self and non-self.
It has been over 40 years since it was discovered that the major histocompatibility (MHC) class I molecules present peptides for the CD8 T cell-mediated immune response. The pathways for delivering and processing peptides for the MHC class I complexes have since been thoroughly studied but it is only until more recently that we start to understand the mechanisms that provide peptide material for the endogenous MHC class I pathway. Interestingly, the main source of antigenic peptide substrates does not come from the same mRNA translation mechanism that produces full length proteins but from ribosomes which products sole purpose might be to produce antigenic peptide substrates. We will discuss the latest development in this field and its implications for a better understanding of one of the corner stones for how the immune system distinguishes between self and non-self.
Related Concept Videos
Antigen Processing Pathways
MHC Class I: Presenting Endogenous...
Antigens Involved in Adaptive Immunity
Complete Antigens
Complete antigens possess both immunogenicity and reactivity.
Initiation of Translation
First, the initiator tRNA must be selected from the pool of elongator tRNAs by eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2). The initiator tRNA (Met-tRNAi) has conserved sequence elements including modified bases at...
Antigen Presenting Cells
T cells require the help of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), which process foreign antigens into smaller fragments that can be recognized by T cells. These APCs are highly specialized cells that efficiently internalize antigens...
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life

