Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 2 peptide-major histocompatibility complex (EBV LMP2-pMHC)

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2) peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) is a primary immunological target for the treatment of EBV-associated malignancies, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma and certain lymphomas (UniProt P13285). LMP2 is a viral protein expressed during EBV latency that plays a role in maintaining viral persistence and promoting B-cell survival by mimicking B-cell receptor signaling (PubMed: 15100289). In infected cells, LMP2 is proteolytically processed into peptides that are presented on the cell surface by MHC class I molecules, such as HLA-A*02:01, making them visible to the cellular immune system (PubMed: 11827918). Therapeutic interventions, such as T-cell receptor (TCR) engineered T-cells and allogeneic EBV-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs), are designed to recognize these specific pMHC complexes to induce targeted apoptosis of the tumor cells (PubMed: 20145282). Because these complexes are specific to EBV-infected cells and absent from healthy tissue, they represent a high-precision target for immunotherapy with a potentially favorable safety profile (PubMed: 22589272).

Other names

LMP2-HLA complexEBV LMP2 peptide-HLA complexLMP2-MHC class I complexLatent membrane protein 2 peptide-MHCEBV LMP2-pMHC

T-cell receptor-mediated recognition of the peptide-MHC complex leading to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activation and target cell lysis.