Differences in F pocket impact on HLA I genetic associations with autoimmune diabetes

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) I molecules present antigenic peptides to activate CD8⁺ T cells. Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an auto-immune disease caused by aberrant activation of the CD8⁺ T cells that destroy insulin-producing pancreatic β cells. Some HLA I alleles were shown to increase the risk of T1D (T1D-predisposing alleles), while some reduce this risk (T1D-protective alleles).

Here, we compared the T1D-predisposing and T1D-protective allotypes concerning peptide binding, maturation, localization and surface expression and correlated it with their sequences and energetic profiles using experimental and computational methods.

T1D-predisposing allotypes had more peptide-bound forms and higher plasma membrane levels than T1D-protective allotypes. This was related to the fact that position 116 within the F pocket was more conserved and made more optimal contacts with the neighboring residues in T1D-predisposing allotypes than in protective allotypes.

Our work uncovers that specific polymorphisms in HLA I molecules potentially influence their susceptibility to T1D.