title: Screening for HIV-specific T-cell responses using overlapping 15-mer peptide pools or optimized epitopes.
abstract: The IFN-y enzyme-linked immunospot (ELI-Spot) assay is often used to map HIV-specific CD8 T-cell responses. We compared overlapping 15-mer pools with optimized CD8 epitopes to screen ELISpot responses in HIV-infected individuals. The 15-mer pools detected responses to previously undefined epitopes, but often missed low-level responses to predefined epitopes, particularly when the epitope was central in the 15-mer, rather than at the N-terminus or C-terminus. These factors should be considered in the monitoring of HIV vaccine trials.
authors.affiliation: MRC Human Immunology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beattie
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rostron
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Easterbrook
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jaoko
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kimani
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Plummer
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McMichael
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rowland-Jones
mesh_terms: D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes; D015750:Genes, gag; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D007371:Interferon-gamma