Exact prediction of a natural T cell epitope

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Abstract
T lymphocytes recognize their antigen as peptides associated with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Peptides naturally presented by MHC class I molecules are uniform in length and have a specific motif, both defined by the respective MHC allele (Falk, K. et al. Nature 1991. 351: 290). These allele‐specific motifs should allow exact prediction of natural T cell epitopes. H‐2Kb‐restricted epitopes, for example, have a length of eight amino acid residues and conserved anchor residues at positions 5 and 8. According to this information, we predicted the natural Kb‐restricted epitope of ovalbumin, thought to be contained in the 19‐mer IINFEKLTEWTSSNVMEER, to be SIINFEKL. Here we show that this prediction is correct. Thus, exact prediction of natural T cell epitopes is possible.