Synthetic Peptides with Inadvertent Chemical Modifications Can Activate Potentially Autoreactive T Cells.

The human CD8 T cell clone 6C5 has previously been shown to recognize the -butyl-modified Bax peptide LLSY(3-Bu)FGTPT presented by HLA-A*02:01. This nonnatural epitope was likely created as a by-product of fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl protecting group peptide synthesis and bound poorly to HLA-A*02:01. In this study, we used a systematic approach to identify and characterize natural ligands for the 6C5 TCR.

Culture surface influence on T-cell phenotype and function.

When dealing with T lymphocyte culture there is currently very less information available about the interaction between T-cells and the culture system. In this study we look at the influence of the culture chamber on T-cell proliferation in two main aspects of the culture system, namely: culture chamber material and geometry. The study was carried out using unique polymeric closed cell culture inserts, which were processed via injection moulding from polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), polyetherurethane (PEU), polystyrene-co-acrylonitrile (PSAN) and polyetherimide (PEI).