title: Identification of the HLA-A24 peptide epitope within cytomegalovirus protein pp65 recognized by CMV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
abstract: Among cytomegalovirus (CMV) tegument proteins, phosphoprotein 65 (pp65) has been identified as the important target antigen of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response against the virus. We synthesized seven CMV-pp65-derived peptides carrying an HLA-A24-binding motif, and investigated the ability of these peptides to induce CMV-specific CTL. We identified one nonamer peptide (pp65113-121; VYALPLKML) able to bind HLA-A24 and induce CTL responses in vitro in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from CMV-seropositive individuals. The peptide-specific CTLs generated were capable of recognizing pp65 expressed on CMV-infected fibroblasts as well as pp65113-121 peptide bound to the surface of C1R-A*2402 cells in an HLA-A24-restricted manner. The pp65113-121 peptide thus might be considered a synthetic peptide vaccine in HLA-A24-positive individuals.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan. megum@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masuoka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimuta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fumimori
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oizumi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D010455:Peptides; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; C065418:cytomegalovirus matrix protein 65kDa