Oligopeptide antigens of the angiotensin lineage compete for presentation by paraformaldehyde-treated accessory cells to T cells.

The heptapeptide antigen angiotensin III can be presented to guinea pig T cells by paraformaldehyde-treated antigen-presenting cells, which are incapable of processing antigens and presumably cannot even ingest them. We demonstrate here that the decapeptide angiotensin I can outcompete angiotensin III for presentation by paraformaldehyde-treated antigen-presenting cells. It seems likely that the competition is for a site on the surface of the presenting cell. This extends earlier findings of competition for presentation between antigens. We also demonstrate that the antigens of the angiotensin series are highly susceptible to proteolytic destruction in cultures containing prefixed accessory cells. The proteases responsible for the destruction of these peptides are apparently located in the plasma membrane of accessory cells. These enzymes represent a methodologic problem in studies of competition between antigens for presentation; but since they presumably are active also in untreated cells, they may play a physiologic role in the normal immune response.