Abstract
Peptides that bind to and are presented on the cell surface by Human
Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) molecules play a critical role in adaptive
immunity. For a long time, it was believed all of the HLA bound peptides
were generated through simple proteolysis of linear sequences of
cellular proteins, and therefore, are templated in the genome and
proteome. However, evidence for untemplated peptide ligands of HLA
molecules has accumulated over the last two decades, with a recent
global analysis of HLA-bound peptides suggesting that a considerable
proportion of HLA bound peptides are potentially generated through
splicing/fusion of discontinuous peptide segments from one or two
distinct proteins. In this review, we will review recent discoveries and
debates on the contribution of spliced peptides to the HLA class I
immunopeptidome, consider biochemical rules for splicing, and the
potential role of these spliced peptides in immune recognition.