title: Cross-reactive CD8+ T cell epitopes identified in US adolescent minorities.
abstract: Vaccines designed to bring forth CD8+ T cell responses in different racial and ethnic groups will require inclusion of T cell epitopes presented by various MHC class I molecules. This study was designed to identify new CD8+ T cell epitopes in HIV-infected African American and Hispanic youth as well as to determine the frequency of responses to both novel and previously described HIV-1 epitopes in a cohort of racially and ethnically diverse individuals. We found 8 MHC class I-restricted CD8+ T cell epitopes that had not been previously described, another 8 epitopes that were restricted by class I alleles not previously associated with these epitopes, and 8 additional epitopes that have been described previously. In a larger cohort, we demonstrated that 11 (69%) of these 16 newly described immunogens were recognized by individuals of different race or ethnicity. Most HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell epitopes identified were either novel or restricted by alternative MHC class I alleles. Frequent recognition of several of these CTL epitopes in persons of diverse racial backgrounds bodes well for the development of a broadly reactive HIV-1 vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA. sabbaj@uab.edu
authors.forename: Steffanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sabbaj
authors.forename: Anju
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.forename: G Douglas
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Ritter
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.forename: Bradley H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Ethan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gough
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Szinger
authors.forename: Bette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Korber
authors.forename: Craig M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kaslow
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mulligan
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Goepfert
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D003429:Cross Reactions; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D005260:Female; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte