Immunopeptidomics analysis of human atherosclerosis plaques identifies antigenic drivers of atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis has an auto-immune component driven by self-reactive T and B cells. Identifying their antigenic drivers may lead to new diagnosis and treatment approaches. Here, we aim to identify immunogenic T cell epitopes derived from atherosclerosis-relevant proteins such as ApoB100 by studying the repertoire of peptides presented by HLA in human plaques.

We used immunopeptidomics to identify peptides presented by HLA-DR molecules from plaques of patients that underwent endarterectomy surgery. We selected a set of 20 peptides derived from ApoB100 and studied the presence and cytokine profile of ApoB100-specific CD4⁺ T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from atherosclerosis patients.

revealed significant CD4⁺ T cell activation in response to these ApoB100 peptides in 22-39 % of the patients, and this T cell response correlated positively with plaque vulnerability. These cells were characterized by production of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

We show that immunopeptidomics can be a valid approach to new discover antigens in atherosclerosis.