Structural analysis of insulin determinants seen by T cells directed by H-2 genes.

The magnitude of the immune response of lymphocytes to defined antigenic determinants of ungulate insulins is controlled by the products of H-2 genes. Based on the crystallographically solved structure of porcine insulin, the close homology of all the ungulate insulins, and the amino acid substitutions, we built models of the different insulins. We analyzed the likely conformations of the antigenic determinants, and proposed structural specificities accounting for the immunologic phenomena observed.