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Synopsis T cell receptor (TCR) recognition of antigenic peptides bound and presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules forms the basis of the cellular immune response to pathogens and cancer. TCRs bind peptide/MHC molecules weakly and with fast kinetics, features which have hindered detailed biophysical studies of these interactions. Modified peptides resulting in enhanced TCR binding could help overcome these challenges. Further, there is considerable interest in using modified peptides with enhanced TCR binding as the basis for clinical vaccines. Here, we studied how fluorine substitutions in an antigenic peptide can selectively impact TCR recognition. Using a structure-guided design approach, we found that fluorination of the HTLV-1 Tax11-19 peptide (Tax) enhanced binding by the Tax-specific TCR A6, yet weakened binding by the Tax-specific TCR B7. The changes in affinity were consistent with crystallographic structures and fluorine chemistry, and with A6, independent of other substitutions in the interface. Peptide fluorination thus provides a means to selectively modulate TCR binding affinity without significantly perturbing peptide composition or structure. Lastly, in probing the mechanism of fluorine’s effect on TCR binding, our data were most consistent with fluorine’s unique “polar hydrophobicity,” a finding which should impact other attempts to alter molecular recognition with fluorine.

Glutaraldehyde cross-linking followed by separation has been used to detect aggregates of chicken egg-white lysozyme (CEWL) in supersaturated solutions. In solutions of varying NaCl content, the number of aggregates was found to be related to the ionic strength of the solution. Separation by SDS-PAGE showed that percentage of dimer in solution ranged from 25.3% for no NaCl to 27.1% at 15% NaCl, and the aggregates larger than dimer increased from 1.9% for no NaCl to 36.8% at 15% NaCl. Conversely, the percentage of monomers decreased from 72.8% without NaCl to 36.1% at 15% NaCl. Molecular weights by capillary electrophoresis (SDS-CE) were found to be multiples of the monomer molecular weights, with the exception of trimer, which indicates a very compact structure. Native separation was accomplished using size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and gave a lower monomer concentration and higher aggregate concentration than SDS-CE, which is a denaturing separation method. Most noticeably, trimers were absent in the SEC separation. The number of aggregates did not change with increased time between addition of NaCl and addition of cross-linking agent when separated by gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The results suggest that high ionic strength CEWL solutions are highly aggregated and that denaturing separation methods disrupt cross-linked products.

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