Identification of CD4 T-Cell Epitopes in Soluble Liver Antigen/Liver Pancreas Autoantigen in Autoimmune Hepatitis

Background & Aims Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic inflammatory liver disease associated with autoantibodies and liver-infiltrating lymphocytes. Although autoantibodies are tested routinely to diagnose and classify AIH, liver-infiltrating lymphocytes are regarded as the primary factor for disease pathogenesis. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize autoantigenic peptides within human AIH-specific soluble liver antigen/liver pancreas antigen (SLA/LP) that are targeted by CD4 + T cells and restricted by the disease susceptibility gene HLA-DRB1*0301. Methods HLA-DRB1*0301 transgenic mice were immunized with SLA/LP. Antibody and T-cell responses were analyzed with SLA…