Gunnar J. Hanson Pages 397 - 402 ( 6 )
The presentation of peptide antigens to T-cells by MHC Class II proteins is a central process in cellular and humoral immune responses. Blockade of this presentation event via synthetic ligands that bind to disease-associated MHCs (such as DR1 and DR4 l may be useful for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus erthymatosis and Graves disease. Recently reported synthetic ligands for DR1 and DR4 are short modified peptides (2-7mers) capable of competing at nanomolar concentrations with antigenic peptides for the DR (MHC) binding groove.