Turk J Immunol. 2021; 9(2): 95-104 | DOI: 10.5222/TJI.2021.58077

Molecular Mimicry with Nsp11 Protein of SARS-CoV-2 in Individuals with HLA-B*15: 01 Allele

Yekbun Adýgüzel
Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Altinbas University, Istanbul, Turkey

Objective: In our study, it was aimed to investigate the presence of peptides of the 13 amino acids-long non-structural protein 11 (Nsp11) of SARS-CoV-2 that may be associated with the higher risk of autoimmune reactions in individuals with certain HLA serotypes.
Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the binding affinities of Nsp11-derived peptides to 12 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) supertype representative human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles were predicted by NetMHCcons and NetCTLpan. Strongly binding or predicted epitope peptides were sought in human proteome by blastp. Whether the sequence containing the overlapping peptide had a strong binding affinity to the same HLA allele as the Nsp11 peptide was also checked.
Results: One of the Nsp11-derived peptides was predicted to be strongly bound to the HLA-B*15: 01 allele and the other to be the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitope that binds to the HLA-A*01: 01 allele. Alignment result with immunoglobulin heavy chain junction region (MOP92462.1) appeared on top within the blastp search results for peptides. A peptide of the sequence containing the overlapping peptide was predicted to be the CTL epitope that binds to the HLA-B*15: 01 allele.
Conclusion: The results indicate that individuals with the HLA-B*15: 01 allele may have a risk of autoimmune reactions from SARS-CoV-2 infection

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, molecular mimicry, otoimmunity, human leukocyte antigen

---

HLA-B*15: 01 Alleline Sahip Bireylerde SARS-CoV-2’nin Nsp11 Proteini ile Moleküler Taklidi

Yekbun Adýgüzel
Altýnbaþ Üniversitesi Týp Fakültesi, Biyoizik Anabilim Dalý, Ýstanbul

Amaç: Çalýþmamýzda SARS-CoV-2’nin 13 amino asit uzunluðundaki yapýsal olmayan protein 11 (Nsp11) proteininin belirli HLA serotiplerine sahip bireylerde otoimmün üzerinden reaksiyon oluþturma riski taþýyabilecek peptitlerinin varlýðýnýn araþtýrýlmasý hedeflenmiþtir.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Bu amaçla, Nsp11 kaynaklý peptitlerin 12 insan lökosit antijeni (HLA) alleline baðlanma afiniteleri NetMHCcons ve NetCTLpan ile tahmin edildi. Kuvvetli baðlanan ya da epitop olarak tahmin edilen peptitler blastp ile insan proteomunda araþtýrýldý. Örtüþme bulunan peptidi içeren dizinin Nsp11 peptidi ile ayný HLA alleline kuvvetli baðlanmasý olup olmadýðýna ayný þekilde bakýldý.
Bulgular: Nsp11 kaynaklý peptitlerin birinin HLA-B*15: 01 alleline kuvvetli baðlandýðý ve diðerinin HLA-A*01: 01 alleline baðlanan sitotoksik T lenfositi (CTL) epitopu olduðu tahmin edildi. Peptitlerin blastp arama sonuçlarýnda immünoglobülin aðýr zincir birleþme bölgesi (MOP92462.1) ile örtüþme sonucu üst bölgede gözlendi. Örtüþen peptidi içeren diziye ait bir peptidin HLA-B*15: 01 alleline baðlanan CTL epitopu olduðu tahmin edildi.
Sonuç: Sonuçlar, HLA-B*15: 01 alleline sahip bireylerde SARS-CoV-2 enfeksiyonu otoimmün reaksiyon riskini artýrabileceðini düþündürmektedir

Anahtar Kelimeler: SARS-CoV-2, moleküler taklit, otoimmünite, insan lökosit antijeni

---

CITE