AUTHOR=Shepard Ella R. , Wegner Anja , Hill Elaine V. , Burton Bronwen R. , Aerts Sarah , Schurgers Evelien , Hoedemaekers Brecht , Ng Sky T. H. , Streeter Heather B. , Jansson Lotta , Wraith David C. TITLE=The Mechanism of Action of Antigen Processing Independent T Cell Epitopes Designed for Immunotherapy of Autoimmune Diseases JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.654201 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2021.654201 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=
Immunotherapy with antigen-processing independent T cell epitopes (apitopes) targeting autoreactive CD4+ T cells has translated to the clinic and been shown to modulate progression of both Graves’ disease and multiple sclerosis. The model apitope (Ac1-9[4Y]) renders antigen-specific T cells anergic while repeated administration induces both Tr1 and Foxp3+ regulatory cells. Here we address why CD4+ T cell epitopes should be designed as apitopes to induce tolerance and define the antigen presenting cells that they target