Molecular modelling of co-receptor CD8αα and its complex with MHC class I and T-cell receptor in sea bream (Sparus aurata)

Abstract

T-cells are the main actors of cell-mediated immune defence; they recognize and respond to peptide antigens associated with MHC class I and class II molecules. In this paper, we investigated by molecular modelling methods in the teleost sea bream (Sparus aurata) the interaction among the molecules of the tertiary complex CD8/MHC-I/TCR, which determines the T-cell-mediated immunological response to foreign molecules. First, we predicted the three-dimensional structure of CD8αα dimer and MHC-I, and, successively, we simulated the CD8αα/MHC-I complex. Finally, the 3D structure of the CD8/MHC-I/TCR complex was simulated in order to investigate the possible changes that can influence TCR signalling events.