title: CD8 T cell epitope distribution in viruses reveals patterns of protein biosynthesis.
abstract: Distinguishing T cell epitope distribution patterns is relevant for epitope-vaccine design. To that end, we invest0069gated the distribution of known CD8 T cell epitopes from Hepatitis C Virus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 and Influenza A Virus using χ(2) statistics. We found that epitopes are not distributed in the viral proteomes proportionally to the size of the source proteins. Specifically, capsid and matrix proteins pack significantly more epitopes than those expected by their size. Such non-homogeneous distribution cannot be accounted by underlying MHC I-peptide binding preferences nor it is related to sequence variability. Instead, we propose that it might be related to preferential protein translation/biosynthesis. Overall, these results support the prioritization of structural antigens for epitope identification and vaccine design.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immunomedicine, Department of Immunology, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Diez-Rivero
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Reche
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D006680:HLA Antigens; D014764:Viral Proteins