Identification of the epitopes on HCV core protein recognized by HLA-A2 restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
OBJECTIVE
To identify hepatitis C virus(HCV) core protein epitopes recognized by HLA-A2 restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL).


METHODS
Utilizing the method of computer prediction followed by a 4h(51)Cr release assay confirmation.


RESULTS
The results showed that peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from two HLA-A2 positive donors who were infected with HCV could lyse autologous target cells labeled with peptide "ALAHGVRAL (core 150-158)". The rates of specific lysis of the cells from the two donors were 37.5% and 15.8%, respectively. Blocking of the CTL response with anti-CD4 mAb caused no significant decrease of the specific lysis. But blocking of CTL response with anti-CD8 mAb could abolish the lysis.


CONCLUSIONS
The peptide (core 150-158) is the candidate epitope recognized by HLAA2 restricted CTL.
Zhou
H C
HC
Department of Immunology, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710033, Shaanxi Province, China. juliu@fmmu.edu.cn
Xu
D Z
DZ
Wang
X P
XP
Zhang
J X
JX
Huang
Y
Y
Yan
Y P
YP
Zhu
Y
Y
Jin
B Q
BQ
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D002460:Cell Line; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015789:HLA-A2 Antigen; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; C069130:nucleocapsid protein, Hepatitis C virus