Objective: To define the cross-reactivity potential and the consequent autoimmunity intrinsic to viral versus human peptide sharing. Methods: Using human papillomavirus (HPV) infection/active immunization as a research model, the experimentally validated HPV L1 epitopes catalogued at the Immune Epitope DataBase were analyzed for peptide sharing with the human proteome. Results: The final data show that the totality of the immunoreactive HPV L1 epitopes is mostly composed by peptides present in human proteins. Conclusions: Immunologically, the high extent of peptide sharing between the HPV L1 epitopes and human proteins invites to revise the concept of the negative selection of self-reactive lymphocytes. Pathologically, the data highlight a cross-reactive potential for a spectrum of autoimmune diseases that includes ovarian failure, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), breast cancer and sudden death, among others. Therapeutically, analyzing already validated immunoreactive epitopes filters out the peptide sharing possibly exempt of self-reactivity, defines the effective potential for pathologic autoimmunity, and allows singling out peptide epitopes for safe immunotherapeutic protocols.

中文翻译：

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人乳头瘤病毒表位模拟与自身免疫：肽共享的分子真相

目的：确定病毒与人类肽共享固有的交叉反应潜力和随之而来的自身免疫。方法：使用人乳头瘤病毒 (HPV) 感染/主动免疫作为研究模型，分析了在免疫表位数据库中编目的经实验验证的 HPV L1 表位与人类蛋白质组的肽共享。结果：最终数据显示免疫反应性 HPV L1 表位的总体主要由存在于人类蛋白质中的肽组成。结论：在免疫学上，HPV L1 表位和人类蛋白质之间的高度肽共享要求修改自反应淋巴细胞负选择的概念。在病理学上，数据突出了一系列自身免疫性疾病的交叉反应潜力，包括卵巢功能衰竭、系统性红斑狼疮 (SLE)、乳腺癌和猝死等。在治疗上，分析已经验证的免疫反应性表位可过滤掉可能免于自身反应性的肽共享，定义病理性自身免疫的有效潜力，并允许挑选出肽表位用于安全的免疫治疗方案。