The calcium-dependent enzyme tissue transglutaminase (tTG) is associated with diverse biological functions, such as induction of apoptosis, modeling of the extracellular matrix, receptor-mediated endocytosis, cell growth and differentiation, cell adhesion and signal transduction. Also, it may deamidate glutamine residues to glutamic acid and catalyze cross-linking of proteins. In this study, we have investigated the impact of tTG for posttranslational modifications and cross-linking of the immunodominant T-cell epitope CII260-270 and their effects on the collagen-induced arthritis, an animal model for rheumatoid arthritis. By using mass spectrometry analysis and hybridoma assays, we have demonstrated that tTG could perform both types of modifications (deamidation and cross-link formation) on the immunodominant T-cell epitope CII259-273. Replacement of the glutamine at position 267 with glutamic acid leads to a decreased binding affinity to MHC II. T cells recognized both non-modfied (Q 267 ) and modified (E 267 ) CII259-273-peptides. We also show that administration of tTG leads to increased incidence, severity and histopathological manifestations of collagen-induced arthritis in mice. Moreover, we conclude that both processes, deamidation and cross-linking, are involved in the tTG-catalyzed reactions, and in vivo administration of tTG enhances arthritis severity and joint destruction in mice.Key words: Collagen-induced arthritis . CII-peptide . Posttranslational modifications .T cells . Tissue transglutaminase
IntroductionPosttranslational modifications of proteins are being recognized as increasingly important for the initiation and pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Such modifications could lead to breaking of the immunological tolerance to self proteins by creation of new epitopes within the target antigen. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease involving an inflammatory attack on peripheral cartilaginous joints characterized by leukocyte infiltration, secretion of inflammatory cytokines and auto-Ab, and subsequent cartilage destruction, irreversible bone erosion and joint deformation. Major candidate autoantigens in RA that are locally expressed in the joint are type II collagen (CII), fibrin, and proteoglycans. CII is of particular interest, since T-and B-cell autoimmune responses to this protein leads to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice [1], rats [2] and primates [3,4], which shares many phenotypic features with RA. The shared immunodominant T-cell epitope in CIA and RA has been identified as . Amino acids of this immunodominant core can be posttranslationally modified either by enzymatic processes or spontaneously. It is well established that during aging, inflammation, trauma or other pathologic processes, the frequency of posttranslational modifications, such as glycosylation, glycation, citrullination, oxidation, deamidation/transamidation or
2412phosphorylation, is increased [10,11]. The role of glycosylated immunodominant CII260-270-peptide for development of autoimmune arthri...