title: Precise prediction of a dominant class I MHC-restricted epitope of Listeria monocytogenes.
abstract: Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium which grows in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells and can cause severe disease in immunocompromised individuals. In murine systems CD8+ T lymphocytes have been shown to be important effectors of acquired protective immunity against L. monocytogenes. Class I MHC-restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), which lyse J774 macrophage-like targets infected with L. monocytogenes, are induced following in vivo injection of live organisms. Natural peptide epitopes derived from L. monocytogenes can be acid-extracted from heavily infected BALB/c spleens and detected by CTL. A CTL clone, B9, derived from a (BALB/c x C57BL/6)F1 (H-2dxb) mouse, recognizes one of these natural epitopes in an H-2Kd-restricted fashion. B9 also recognizes P815 (H-2d) mastocytoma cells transfected with the listeriolysin gene. To identify the region of the listeriolysin recognized by CTL we used the H-2Kd peptide-binding motif described by Rammensee and colleagues to synthesize 11 nonamer peptides. One of these peptides, listeriolysin 91-99, was recognized very efficiently by B9. This represents the first identified class I MHC-restricted epitope of bacteria and demonstrates the utility of the allele-specific motif for predicting CTL epitopes.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Immunology, Seattle, Washington.
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Pamer
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Harty
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bevan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics*; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000276:immunology*; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides