title: T cell epitope "hotspots" on the HIV Type 1 gp120 envelope protein overlap with tryptic fragments displayed by mass spectrometry.
abstract: Our previous work has shown that immunodominant T-helper cell epitopes cluster within distinct fragments on a single face of the HIV envelope gp120 protein. We show in this report that the general positions of immunodominant epitopes are shared by T cells derived from BALB/c, C57BL/6, and CB6F1 mice, yet the precise peptides recognized by the responding T cell populations may differ. In addition, we find that gp120 peptides displayed by tryptic digestion and mass spectrometry of a purified HIV envelope protein share location with peptides defined as immunodominant T cell targets. Results are consistent with the suggestion that gp120 peptide location influences antigen processing, which, in turn, influences the specificity of immunodominant T cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Lockey
authors.forename: Clive
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Slaughter
authors.forename: Karen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Slobod
authors.forename: Sherri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Surman
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zirkel
authors.forename: Ashutosh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Vishwajeeth R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Pagala
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coleclough
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Doherty
authors.forename: Julia L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hurwitz
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000276:immunology*; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology*; D014357:Trypsin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014357:Trypsin