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Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 178, 731-735, Copyright © 1993 by Rockefeller University Press
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RR Olson, JJ Reuter and K Scalf
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa.
Recombinant major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules were expressed with extracellular polypeptide domains reorganized to form heavy (H) and light (L) chains (alpha 1-beta 1-beta 2 and alpha 2) analogous to class I. Accurate protein folding and dimerization is demonstrated by the ability of this 3+1-DR1 construct to bind class II- restricted peptides and stimulate CD4+ T cells. Cell surface expression of a functional class II molecule consisting of H and L chains supports the validity of current class II models and affirms the evolutionary relatedness of class I/II. MHC functions that differ between class I/II may be influenced by domain configuration, and the use of domain- shifted constructs will allow examination of this possibility.
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