NetMHCIIpan-3.0, a common pan-specific MHC class II prediction method including all three human MHC class II isotypes, HLA-DR, HLA-DP and HLA-DQ

Immunogenetics. 2013 Oct;65(10):711-24. doi: 10.1007/s00251-013-0720-y. Epub 2013 Jul 31.

Abstract

Major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) molecules play an important role in cell-mediated immunity. They present specific peptides derived from endosomal proteins for recognition by T helper cells. The identification of peptides that bind to MHCII molecules is therefore of great importance for understanding the nature of immune responses and identifying T cell epitopes for the design of new vaccines and immunotherapies. Given the large number of MHC variants, and the costly experimental procedures needed to evaluate individual peptide-MHC interactions, computational predictions have become particularly attractive as first-line methods in epitope discovery. However, only a few so-called pan-specific prediction methods capable of predicting binding to any MHC molecule with known protein sequence are currently available, and all of them are limited to HLA-DR. Here, we present the first pan-specific method capable of predicting peptide binding to any HLA class II molecule with a defined protein sequence. The method employs a strategy common for HLA-DR, HLA-DP and HLA-DQ molecules to define the peptide-binding MHC environment in terms of a pseudo sequence. This strategy allows the inclusion of new molecules even from other species. The method was evaluated in several benchmarks and demonstrates a significant improvement over molecule-specific methods as well as the ability to predict peptide binding of previously uncharacterised MHCII molecules. To the best of our knowledge, the NetMHCIIpan-3.0 method is the first pan-specific predictor covering all HLA class II molecules with known sequences including HLA-DR, HLA-DP, and HLA-DQ. The NetMHCpan-3.0 method is available at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/NetMHCIIpan-3.0 .

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • HLA-DP Antigens / chemistry
  • HLA-DP Antigens / genetics
  • HLA-DP Antigens / immunology*
  • HLA-DQ Antigens / chemistry
  • HLA-DQ Antigens / genetics
  • HLA-DQ Antigens / immunology*
  • HLA-DR Antigens / chemistry
  • HLA-DR Antigens / genetics
  • HLA-DR Antigens / immunology*
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / classification
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / genetics
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Substances

  • HLA-DP Antigens
  • HLA-DQ Antigens
  • HLA-DR Antigens
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II