Hunting down factor VIII in the immunopeptidome

Major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII)-restricted peptide presentation is crucial for the selection and subsequent proliferation of antigen specific CD4+ T cells. While selection of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells is beneficial in the context of vaccination, emergence of antigen CD4+ T cells following administration of therapeutic proteins like factor VIII (FVIII) is not desirable. The mechanism of uptake, processing and presentation of FVIII by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) has been the subject of intense study over the past 10 years. Multiple receptors have been implicated in the uptake of FVIII by APCs. A crucial determinant directing its entry in APCs resides in the C1 domain of FVIII. Until recently, our knowledge on the repertoire of FVIII derived presented on MHCII was limited. Peptide sequences on FVIII recognized by CD4+ T cells have been identified using MHCII tetramers as well as by directly monitoring peptide-induced proliferation of CD4+ T cells. More recently, the repertoire of naturally presented peptides derived from FVIII has been identified by pulsing of immature dendritic cells with FVIII. In a complementary approach HLA-DRB1(∗)15 transgenic mice were used to identify HLA-DRB1(∗)15 restricted CD4+ T cells reactive towards human FVIII. In this review we summarize our current knowledge on FVIII derived peptides that are presented on MHCII and discuss the relevance of these findings for the etiology of inhibitor development in patients with hemophilia A.