摘要：

Hapten-peptide-T cell receptor interactions play a major role in the mechanism of allergic contact dermatitis. Although the recognition of natural T-epitopes by class I and class II MHC molecules is starting to be understood, this is far from being the case for hapten-modified proteins. Thus, in the case of trinitrophenyl, the response of T cells has been shown to be directed toward lysine-TNP residues while in the case of gold the response seems directed toward cryptic epitopes not bearing the hapten. Nevertheless, the recognition of antigenic peptides by T-cell receptors follows the rules of supramolecular chemistry and with the help of computational chemistry it should be possible to better understand and predict cross-reactions.

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