Specificity of anti-MHC class II antibody binding to synthetic peptides.

This study indicates that antibodies raised against a DR4,w6; DQw1,3 positive cell line may bind to synthetic peptides selected from the polymorphic amino acid sequences 51-59 and 63-79 on the DQw2 beta chain. This cross-reaction may be explained by the relatively high sequence homology of these sequences in the beta chains of class II histocompatibility antigens, and suggests that antibody binding to small peptides may be scarsely selective. Based on the observations of the reactivity of the antibodies with several cell lines, and comparison of the amino acid sequences of beta chains of DR and DQ molecules, an attempt to identify the cross-reacting epitope is presented.