The effect of the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin on the presentation of transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP)-dependent and TAP-independent peptide epitopes by class I molecules

Cells were treated with two proteolytic inhibitors, N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal and lactacystin, the latter reported to be a specific inhibitor for the proteasome. Both inhibitors retarded the maturation of endo-H-resistant forms of murine and human class I molecules from their endo-H-sensitive precursors in cell lines with functional TAP proteins. HLA-A2 maturation readily occurs in TAP-deficient T2 cells, and it has been shown that the peptides associated with A2 are derived from the leader segment of proteins in the secretory pathway. This maturation is inhibited by N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal but not lactacystin, indicating that the proteasome is not required for the generation of HLA-A2 binding peptides in these cells. The murine class Ib molecule Qa-1^b presents a leader peptide derived from D-end class I molecules to alloreactive CTL. Since this presentation is dependent on the expression of TAP proteins, we determined if this requirement reflects a need for the proteasome to process this peptide. We found that lactacystin did not inhibit the maturation of endo-H-resistant forms of Qa-1^b that are dependent on this leader peptide for its maturation, nor did it inhibit the expression of this peptide-Qa-1^b complex in a functional assay. Thus, unlike conventional cytosolic peptides, leader peptides (regardless of whether they are dependent on TAP for their presentation) do not require the proteasome for processing.