Characterization of three functional sites in αβ1 DR of DRw13. all three sites are potentially involved in major histocompatibility complex‐peptide interaction

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Abstract
An HLA‐DR product encoded by the HLA‐DRw13/Dw19 haplotype has been identified as the HLA class II molecule involved in antigen presentation to several influenza‐specific helper T cell clones. Three different functional sites were identified on this molecule by comparing the structure of HLA‐DR products of known sequences and their ability to efficiently present foreign antigen to the T cell clones. These functional sites were mapped on the recently proposed three‐dimensional structure of HLA class II molecules. From their position, these sites are all potentially involved in HLA‐peptide interaction and capable of affecting the binding and/or the conformation of the foreign peptide. This suggests that polymorphic residues essential in major histocompatibility complex restriction are mostly involved in peptide binding.