[Specific immune responses to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Gag, Tat, Rev and Nef proteins].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the features of HIV-1-Gag-, Tat-, Rev- and Nef- specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses in infected individuals in China.


METHODS
The HIV-1-specific CTL responses were analyzed with an IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay by using 220 overlapping peptides spanning the entire HIV-1 Clade B (HIV-1B) and C (HIV-1C) Gag, Tat, Rev and Nef proteins consensus sequences.


RESULTS
For either HIV-1B or HIV-1C, Gag and Nef were preferentially targeted by HIV-1 specific CTLs, Rev and Tat proteins were also recognized to different extent. In comparison of the immune responses between HIV-1B and HIV-1C, the magnitude and frequency were roughly identical but there were some differences in the immunodominant regions. For HIV-1B, the highest response magnitude was detected in 288-313 amino acids of Gag p24, and for HIV-1C, in 155-181 amino acids of Gag p24. The most frequently recognized region was located in 106-143 amino acids of Nef either in HIV-1B or in HIV-1C (48.1%).


CONCLUSIONS
HIV-1-specific CTLs mainly directed against HIV-1 Gag and Nef in Chinese, and there is some difference between HIV-1B and HIV-1C. There exists the cross-recognition between the Clade B and Clade C. These data suggest that the study on HIV-1-specific CTL responses in Chinese will provide strategies for the vaccine design in China.
Zhai
Song
S
Center of Diagnosis and Treatment for Infectious Diseases of Chinese PLA, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710038, China.
Kang
Wen-zhen
WZ
Yu
Xu
X
Wang
Shao-yang
SY
Walker
B-D
BD
Altfeld
M
M
Sun
Yong-tao
YT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005260:Female; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D054321:rev Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*
D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054321:rev Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus