Brief Definitive Report (1)
Robert P. Machold
The HCMV Gene Products US11 and US2 Differ in Their Ability to Attack Allelic Forms of Murine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I Heavy Chains
Robert P. Machold, Emmanuel J.H.J. Wiertz, Thomas R. Jones, H.L. Ploegh
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.185.2.363
Human cytomegalovirus downregulates the expression of human class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules by accelerating destruction of newly synthesized class I heavy chains. The HCMV genome contains at least two genes, US11 and US2, each of which encode a product sufficient for causing the dislocation of newly synthesized class I heavy chains from the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum to the cytosol. Based on a comparison of their abilities to degrade the murine class I molecules H-2Kb, Kd, Db, Dd, and Ld, the US11 and US2 gene products have non-identical specificities for class I molecules. Specifically, in human astrocytoma cells (U373-MG) transfected with the US11 gene, the Kb, Db, Dd, and Ld molecules expressed via recombinant vaccinia virus are rapidly degraded, whereas in US2-transfected cells, only Db and Dd are significantly destabilized. The diversity in HCMV-encoded functions that interfere with class I–restricted presentation likely evolved in response to the polymorphism of the MHC.
Intermediates in the Assembly and Degradation of Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Molecules Probed with Free Heavy Chain–specific Monoclonal Antibodies
Robert P. Machold, Hidde L. Ploegh
J Exp Med (1996) 184 (6): 2251–2260.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.184.6.2251
Unassembled (free) heavy chains appear during two stages of the class I MHC molecule's existence: immediately after translation but before assembly with peptide and β2-microglobulin, and later, upon disintegration of the heterotrimeric complex. To characterize the structures of folding and degradation intermediates of the class I heavy chain, three monoclonal antibodies have been produced that recognize epitopes along the H-2Kb heavy chain which are obscured upon proper folding and subsequent assembly with β2-microglobulin (KU1: residues 49-54; KU2: residues 23-30; KU4: residues 193-198). The Kb heavy chain is inserted into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum in an unfolded state reactive with KU1, KU2, and KU4. Shortly after completion of the polypeptide chain, reactivity with KU1, KU2 and KU4 is lost synchronously, suggesting that folding of the class I heavy chain is a rapid, cooperative process. Perturbation of the folding environment in intact cells with the reducing agent dithiothreitol or the trimming glucosidase inhibitor N-7-oxadecyl-deoxynojirimycin prolongs the presence of mAb-reactive Kb heavy chains. At the cell surface, a pool of free Kb heavy chains appears after 60–120 min of chase, whose subsequent degradation, but not their initial appearance, is impaired in the presence of concanamycin B, an inhibitor of vacuolar acidification. Thus, free heavy chains that arise at the cell surface are destroyed after internalization.