MHC II immunopeptidome during Plasmodium berghei blood stage infection

In malaria, T cells play a dual role by both restricting parasite growth and mediating immunopathology such as the deadly neuroinflammation called cerebral malaria. During experimental cerebral malaria (ECM), IFN produced by CD4 T cells promotes CD8 T cell sequestration in brain capillaries, resulting in endothelial damage, oedema and death. However the antigen-presenting cells controlling the development of CD4 T cell responses, as well as the antigens recognized by these CD4 T cells, are unknown. Here we used mass spectrometry to characterize the MHC II immunopeptidome presented by dendritic cells during blood stage malaria in C57BL/6 mice. We identified 14 MHC II ligands derived from 13 conserved Plasmodium berghei proteins that we validated in vivo. This work profiles the first MHC II immunopeptidome in a mouse model of blood stage malaria.