A significant number of human immunodeficiency virus epitope-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes detected by tetramer binding do not produce gamma interferon.
Despite the seemingly important role of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease pathogenesis, their measurement has relied on a variety of different techniques. We utilized three separate methodologies for the detection of CTLs in a cohort of HIV-infected individuals who were also human leukocyte antigen A2 (HLA-A2) positive. Among the different CTL assays, a correlation was seen only when the Gag epitope-specific HLA A*0201-restricted tetramer assay was compared with the ELISPOT assay performed after stimulation with the Gag epitope; however, this correlation was of borderline statistical significance. On average, the tetramer reagent detected a 10-fold-higher number of cells than were seen to produce gamma interferon by the ELISPOT assay. The implications of this CTL assay comparison and the possibility of phenotypic differences in HIV-specific CD8(+) T lymphocytes are discussed.
Goepfert
P A
PA
Departments of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-2170, USA. paulg@uab.edu
Bansal
A
A
Edwards
B H
BH
Ritter
G D
GD
Tellez
I
I
McPherson
S A
SA
Sabbaj
S
S
Mulligan
M J
MJ
D001704:Biopolymers / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002857:Chromium / Q000378:metabolism; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
D001704:Biopolymers; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen; D002857:Chromium; D007371:Interferon-gamma