State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
J Med Virol. 2023 Jun;95(6):e28860. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28860.
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules are essential for presenting Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens and are closely related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study aims to systematically investigate the association between HLA-bound EBV peptides and NPC risk through in silico HLA-peptide binding prediction. A total of 455 NPC patients and 463 healthy individuals in NPC endemic areas were recruited, and HLA-target sequencing was performed. HLA-peptide binding prediction for EBV, followed by peptidome-wide logistic regression and motif analysis, was applied. Binding affinity changes for EBV peptides carrying high-risk mutations were analyzed. We found that NPC-associated EBV peptides were significantly enriched in immunogenic proteins and core linkage disequilibrium (LD) proteins related to evolution, especially those binding HLA-A alleles (p = 3.10 × 10 for immunogenic proteins and p = 8.10 × 10 for core LD proteins related to evolution). These peptides were clustered and showed binding motifs of HLA supertypes, among which supertype A02 presented an NPC-risk effect (p = 3.77 × 10 ) and supertype A03 presented an NPC-protective effect (p = 4.89 × 10 ). Moreover, a decreased binding affinity toward risk HLA supertype A02 was observed for the peptide carrying the NPC-risk mutation BNRF1 V1222I (p = 0.0078), and an increased binding affinity toward protective HLA supertype A03 was observed for the peptide carrying the NPC-risk mutation BALF2 I613V (p = 0.022). This study revealed the distinct preference of EBV peptides for binding HLA supertypes, which may contribute to shaping EBV population structure and be involved in NPC development.
人类白细胞抗原(HLA)分子是呈递 Epstein-Barr 病毒(EBV)抗原所必需的,与鼻咽癌(NPC)密切相关。本研究旨在通过计算机 HLA-肽结合预测系统地研究与 NPC 风险相关的 HLA 结合 EBV 肽。共招募了 455 名 NPC 患者和 463 名 NPC 流行地区的健康个体,并进行了 HLA 靶向测序。对 EBV 的 HLA-肽结合进行预测,然后进行肽组宽逻辑回归和基序分析。分析了携带高危突变的 EBV 肽的结合亲和力变化。我们发现,与 NPC 相关的 EBV 肽在免疫原性蛋白和与进化相关的核心连锁不平衡(LD)蛋白中显著富集,尤其是那些与 HLA-A 等位基因结合的蛋白(免疫原性蛋白的 p 值=3.10×10 ,与进化相关的核心 LD 蛋白的 p 值=8.10×10 )。这些肽被聚类并显示 HLA 超型的结合基序,其中超型 A02 表现出 NPC 风险效应(p=3.77×10 ),超型 A03 表现出 NPC 保护效应(p=4.89×10 )。此外,对于携带 NPC 风险突变 BNRF1 V1222I 的肽,观察到对风险 HLA 超型 A02 的结合亲和力降低(p=0.0078),而对于携带 NPC 风险突变 BALF2 I613V 的肽,观察到对保护性 HLA 超型 A03 的结合亲和力增加(p=0.022)。本研究揭示了 EBV 肽对 HLA 超型的独特结合偏好,这可能有助于塑造 EBV 种群结构并参与 NPC 的发生。