Figure 1.

Type II collagen (CII)-specific B and T cell epitopes. Illustration of T (residues 260–267) and B (C1^I, residues 358–363; J1, residues 551–564) epitopes present in the triple-helical form of the collagen type II recognized by the monoclonal antibodies and the T cells used in this study. As indicated, mouse CII differs from rat CII in position 266. Aspartic acid (D) in mCII is replaced by glutamic acid (E) in rCII. Major post-translational modifications in the CII peptide 260–267 occur in lysine at position 264.