DockTope: a Web-based tool for automated pMHC-I modelling

Sci Rep. 2015 Dec 17:5:18413. doi: 10.1038/srep18413.

Abstract

The immune system is constantly challenged, being required to protect the organism against a wide variety of infectious pathogens and, at the same time, to avoid autoimmune disorders. One of the most important molecules involved in these events is the Major Histocompatibility Complex class I (MHC-I), responsible for binding and presenting small peptides from the intracellular environment to CD8(+) T cells. The study of peptide:MHC-I (pMHC-I) molecules at a structural level is crucial to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying immunologic responses. Unfortunately, there are few pMHC-I structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) (especially considering the total number of complexes that could be formed combining different peptides), and pMHC-I modelling tools are scarce. Here, we present DockTope, a free and reliable web-based tool for pMHC-I modelling, based on crystal structures from the PDB. DockTope is fully automated and allows any researcher to construct a pMHC-I complex in an efficient way. We have reproduced a dataset of 135 non-redundant pMHC-I structures from the PDB (Cα RMSD below 1 Å). Modelling of pMHC-I complexes is remarkably important, contributing to the knowledge of important events such as cross-reactivity, autoimmunity, cancer therapy, transplantation and rational vaccine design.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Databases, Protein
  • Epitopes / chemistry
  • Epitopes / genetics
  • Epitopes / metabolism
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / chemistry
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / genetics
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Internet*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Domains
  • Reproducibility of Results

Substances

  • Epitopes
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I
  • Peptides