Identification of Isopeptides Between Human Tissue Transglutaminase and Wheat, Rye, and Barley Gluten Peptides
Lexhaller B, Ludwig C, Scherf KA. Identification of Isopeptides Between Human Tissue Transglutaminase and Wheat, Rye, and Barley Gluten Peptides. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):7426. Published 2020 May 4. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64143-9
Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated enteropathy of the small intestine, which is triggered by the ingestion of storage proteins (gluten) from wheat, rye, and barley in genetically predisposed individuals. Human tissue transglutaminase (TG2) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of CD, because it is responsible for specific gluten peptide deamidation and covalent crosslinking between glutamine and lysine, resulting in the formation of Nε-(γ-glutamyl)-lysine isopeptide bonds. The resulting TG2-gluten peptide complexes are assumed to cause the secretion of anti-TG2-autoantibodies, but the underlying mechanisms are only partly known. To gain more insight into the structures of these complexes, the aim of our study was to identify TG2-gluten isopeptides. We applied a reciprocal proteomics strategy including discovery-driven as well as targeted proteomics to complex wheat, rye and barley gluten hydrolysates that had been incubated with TG2. In total, we detected 29 TG2-gluten isopeptides, involving seven selected TG2 lysine residues (K205, K265, K429, K468, K590, K600, K677). Several gluten peptides carried known B-cell epitopes and/or T-cell epitopes, either intact 9-mer core regions or partial sequences, as well as sequences bearing striking similarities to already known epitopes. These novel insights into the molecular structures of TG2-gluten peptide complexes may help clarify their physiological relevance in the initiation of CD autoimmunity and the role of anti-TG2 autoantibodies