Interpreting T-Cell Cross-reactivity through Structure: Implications for TCR-Based Cancer Immunotherapy
Dinler A Antunes1,2, Maurício M Rigo1,3, Martiela V Freitas1
1Núcleo de Bioinformática do Laboratório de Imunogenética (NBLI), Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Frontiers in Immunology
|October 20, 2017
Summary
T-cell cross-reactivity is a safety concern in cancer immunotherapy. Structural analysis of peptide-MHC complexes can predict and potentially mitigate these unwanted immune responses, improving therapy safety.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Oncology
- Structural Biology
Background:
- Immunotherapy utilizes the patient's immune system for cancer treatment.
- T-cell-based therapies show promise but carry risks of serious side effects.
- T-cell cross-reactivity, where T-cells attack healthy tissues, is a major safety concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and analyze T-cell cross-reactivity in immunotherapy.
- To propose a TCR interaction profile for predicting cross-reactivity.
- To investigate structural drivers of cross-reactivity patterns.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent reports on peptide-MHC (pMHC) cross-reactivity hot-spots.
- Structural analysis of pMHC complexes and T-cell receptor (TCR) interactions.
- Modeling of pMHC complexes to interpret cross-reactivity patterns.
Main Results:
- Identified pMHC 'hot-spots' associated with T-cell cross-reactivity.
- Proposed a TCR interaction profile refining TCR footprint analysis.
- Structural features of pMHC complexes correlate with cross-reactivity patterns.
Conclusions:
- Structural analysis of pMHC complexes can predict cross-reactivity likelihood.
- TCR-based immunotherapy offers a context for meaningful cross-reactivity predictions.
- Understanding structural drivers can improve immunotherapy safety and efficacy.
Keywords:
T-cell cross-reactivityTCR-interacting surfaceTCR/pMHCcancer immunotherapycross-reactivity hot-spotshierarchical clusteringpeptide–MHC complexMore Related Videos
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