title: Identification and characterization of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell epitopes presented by HLA-A*2601.
abstract: Since HLA-A*26 is one of the most common alleles in Asia, where approximately 20% of people have this allele, identification of HIV-1-specific epitopes presented by HLA-A*26 is necessary for studies on the immunopathogenesis of AIDS and vaccine development in Asia. As presented herein, we used the reverse immunogenetics approach to identify HIV-1 epitopes presented by HLA-A*2601, one of the major HLA-A*26 subtypes. We selected 24 HLA-A*2601-binding peptides out of 110 HIV-1 peptides by using a HLA-A*2601 stabilization assay. The ability of these HLA-A*2601-binding peptides to induce peptide-specific CD8(+) T cells was tested by stimulating PBMCs from HIV-1-infected individuals having HLA-A*2601 with these peptides. Four HLA-A*2601-binding peptides induced peptide-specific CD8 T cells. Analysis using HIV-1 recombinant vaccinia-infected C1R-A*2601 cells indicated that these four peptides were HIV-1 epitopes endogenously presented by HLA-A*2601. Two epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells were predominantly detected in HIV-1 infected individuals, suggesting that these epitopes may be useful for vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Division of Viral Immunology, Center for AIDS Research, Kumamoto University, 2-2-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.
authors.forename: Manami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takamiya
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Katsushi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takiguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D010455:Peptides; D007371:Interferon-gamma