In silico prediction of binding of putative antigenic peptides to HLA-DRB1 alleles in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease

We evaluated peptides demonstrated to be immunogenic in studies of HLA-DRB1*0405-restricted T cells from patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease for likelihood of binding to HLA-DRB1*0405 using internet-accessible algorithms. Immunogenic peptides were more likely to overlap with fragments predicted to have a high likelihood of binding to HLA-DRB1*0405 and were more likely to bind to HLA-DRB1*0405 than the negative control, HLA-DRB1*0701. We also determined the likelihood of binding to other HLA molecules associated with VKH disease. The peptide immunogenic in the most patients was predicted to bind to HLA-DRB1*0101, 0404, and 0405, but not to the negative control, HLA-DRB1*0701. In silico methods hold promise for high-throughput evaluation of putative auto-antigens, for testing and generating hypotheses, and suggest a correlation between HLA binding and immunogenicity.