The Disease Association of HLA-B27
HLA-B27 is associated with Ankylosing spondylitis and Reactive Arthritis. It is thought that HLA-B27 binds unique peptides, which stimulate an autoreactive T lymphocyte response. We characterized the T cell receptor sequences of potential HLA-B27 restricted autoreactive T cells. In collaboration with Dr. Klaus Dornmair we try to obtain the amino acid sequence of the recognized ligands and identify the corresponding autoantigen.