Fig. 3: Identification of SmB/B’_58-72 as the dominant T-cell epitope in lupus nephritis.

Physical binding affinity assay of HLA-DR15 and 145 synthesized 15-mer peptides derived from a SmB/B’, b SmD1, and c SmD3. X axis shows peptide numbering of the 15-mers sequentially overlapping by an offset of three amino acids starting from the N-terminus of each protein. Y axes showing % binding and stability index, as described in “Methods”. d The top five binding HLA-DR15-restricted Sm peptides from the physical binding assay. e Immunogenicity of SmB/B’_58-72, SmB/B’_1-15 and SmB/B’_43-57 measured by the proportion of CD4⁺ CellTrace Violet (CTV)^lo T cells following 6-day co-culture of dendritic cells and CTV-labeled CD4⁺ T cells with or without peptide (n = 3 independent samples, data are presented as mean with SD) f, representative FACS plots for immunogenicity of SmB/B’_58-72-stimulated and un-stimulated CD4⁺ T cells by CTV dilution. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.