Elicitation from virus-naive individuals of cytotoxic T lymphocytes directed against conserved HIV-1 epitopes.
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) protect against viruses including HIV-1. To avoid viral escape mutants that thwart immunity, we chose 25 CTL epitopes defined in the context of natural infection with functional and/or structural constraints that maintain sequence conservation. By combining HLA binding predictions with knowledge concerning HLA allele frequencies, a metric estimating population protection coverage (PPC) was computed and epitope pools assembled. Strikingly, only a minority of immunocompetent HIV-1 infected individuals responds to pools with PPC >95%. In contrast, virus-naive individuals uniformly expand IFNgamma producing cells and mount anti-HIV-1 cytolytic activity. This disparity suggests a vaccine design paradigm shift from infected to normal subjects.
Reche
Pedro A
PA
Laboratory of Immunobiology and Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Keskin
Derin B
DB
Laboratory of Immunobiology and Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Hussey
Rebecca E
RE
Laboratory of Immunobiology and Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Ancuta
Petronela
P
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.|Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Gabuzda
Dana
D
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.|Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Reinherz
Ellis L
EL
Laboratory of Immunobiology and Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.