The percent of CD3+CD8+ cells that are
CD69+IFN-γ+ in response to autologous B cells
pulsed with overlapping peptides spanning the gag
protein are shown for three HLA B*57-positive LTNPs (patients 5, 7, and
8) and three HLA B*57-positive progressors (patients 101, 102, and
105). Peptides 15, 17, 23, and 30 contain previously described highly
conserved HLA B*57-restricted epitopes shown here in bold
(15-QMVHQAISPRTLNAWVKVVE,
17-EKAFSPEVIPMFSALSEGAT, 23-PRGSDIAGTTSTLQEQIGWM
and 30-YKTRAEQASQEVKNWMTET). Peptides 1–13 include p17
sequences. The N-terminal sequences of gag beyond
peptide 30 (amino acid 320) elicited weak responses and are not
shown.