Mammals defend themselves against intracellular pathogens through presentation of cytoplasmically-derived short pathogenic peptides to the cell surface of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which subsequently leads to cytotoxic events with respect to the affected cell. Antigen presentation is mediated by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules, which bind and coordinate short pathogenic peptides. MHC class I molecules assemble in the endoplasmic reticulum with chaperones before binding to the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP). ERp57, also designated GRP57, GRP58, ERp60 and ERp61, is a component of the MHC class I pathway that appears to interact with MHC class I molecules before they associate with TAP. The human ERp57 gene maps to chromosome 15q15 and encodes a 505 amino acid protein. ERp57 has two Trp-Cys-Gly-His-Cys-Lys motifs completely conserved among the mammals. ERp57 may act as a protease, a protein disulfide isomerase, a phospholipase or a combination of these.
