Parameters influencing measurement of the Gag antigen-specific T-proliferative response to HIV type 1 infection.
We have analyzed factors that might influence the in vitro quantitation of the T-proliferative response to HIV-1 Gag antigens, a common and increasingly used clinical measurement of helper T cell function in the context of HIV-1 infection. We have compared the rate and extent of T cell proliferation in freshly prepared and previously frozen PBMC samples, and have concluded that frozen cells can be used successfully; we have assessed whether the suppression of any HIV-1 replication in the PBMC cultures affects the extent of T cell proliferation; we have studied which forms of the Gag antigens are the most efficient at inducing T cell proliferation. From the latter experiments, we conclude that Gag proteins that include p17, and perhaps also p7, sequences flanking the central p24 capsid protein, are better stimulants than proteins that comprise only p24 sequences.
Schiller
D S
DS
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10016, USA.
Binley
J M
JM
Roux
K H
KH
Adamson
C S
CS
Jones
I M
IM
Krausslich
H G
HG
Hurley
A
A
Markowitz
M
M
Moore
J P
JP
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002213:Capsid / Q000276:immunology; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000379:methods; D005615:Freezing; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000276:immunology; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods; D019888:Nelfinavir / Q000494:pharmacology; D019829:Nevirapine / Q000494:pharmacology; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015488:HIV Antigens; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; C071884:NCP7 protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D014764:Viral Proteins; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C054858:p17 protein, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1; D019829:Nevirapine; D019888:Nelfinavir