title: Precise prediction of a Kk-restricted cytotoxic T cell epitope in the NS1 protein of influenza virus using an MHC allele-specific motif.
abstract: The nonstructural protein NS1 of influenza A/PR/8/34 virus has previously been reported to be recognized by murine Kk-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), although the sequence of the epitope was not defined. A Kk-specific motif has previously been published and consists of a glutamic acid or (less frequently) an aspartic acid at position 2 and an isoleucine at the carboxyl terminus of a peptide eight or nine residues long. This motif was used here to predict the sequence of the NS1 epitope, which was defined as a nonapeptide corresponding to amino acid residues 152-160, sequence EEGAIVGEI. This is the first CTL epitope to be defined within the NS1 protein of the influenza A virus. A model of how this epitope could bind to the Kk molecule was produced by homology modelling from an X-ray crystal structure of a human HLA/peptide complex.
authors.affiliation: Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cossins
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Driscoll
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Brownlee
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002460:Cell Line; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000276:immunology*; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins