부산대학교 도서관

The ability of Natural Killer (NK) cells to eliminate cancerous cells is largely dependant on the activation of the stimulatory or co-stimulatory natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) receptor. This receptor recognises ligands that are structural homologs of MHC class I molecules such as the UL-16 binding protein 2 (ULBP2). ULBP2 has been reported to have the ability to mediate natural resistance against tumours in vivo, thus promoting its use as a potential target for developing immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancers and some viral infections. In this study, we generated a reliable and quality 3-D structure of the protein using SWISS-MODEL. Furthermore, the ULBP2 was forecasted to be antigenic in nature and possesses six linear B-cell epitopes and 11 discontinuous B-cell epitopes. The protein contains seven cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and two helper T lymphocytes (HTLs). Overall, potential epitopes that might be effective to produce the B-cell and T-cell mediated immunity towards the needed immune response to tumour growth was predicted.