Rapid CLIP Dissociation from MHC II Promotes an Unusual Antigen Presentation Pathway in Autoimmunity

A number of autoimmunity-associated MHC class II proteins interact only weakly with the invariant chain-derived class II-associated invariant chain peptide (CLIP). CLIP dissociates rapidly from I-Ag7 even in the absence of DM, and this property is related to the type 1 diabetes-associated b57 polymorphism. We generated knock-in Non-obese Diabetic (NOD) mice with a single amino acid change in the CLIP segment of invariant chain in order to moderately slow CLIP dissociation from I-Ag7. These knock-in mice had a significantly reduced incidence of spontaneous type 1 diabetes and diminished islet infiltration by CD4 T cells, in particular T cells specific for fusion peptides generated by covalent linkage of proteolytic fragments within b cell secretory granules. Rapid CLIP dissociation enhanced presentation of such extracellular peptides, thus bypassing the conventional MHC class II antigen processing pathway. Autoimmunity-associated MHC class II polymorphisms therefore not only modify binding of self-peptides, but also alter the biochemistry of peptide acquisition. Mouse pancreatic tissue was digested by collagenase, and islets were isolated and dissociated into single cells. Beta-cell-specific CD4 T cells were single-cell sorted by FACS based on tetramer labeling, and individual cells were profiled with a modified full length SMART-Seq2 protocol.