Antigen presentation: structural themes and functional variations

Abstract

T cells recognize nonnative processed fragments of antigens presented in association with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I or class II molecules. Recently, an accumulating body of evidence has provided a functional linkage between antigen presentation events and the cell biology of MHC molecule assembly and transport. In this review Thomas and Vivian Braciale synthesize these developments into a cohesive model of MHC assembly and antigen presentation pathways.