Fig. 6.
Hepatitis B core (HBc)18−27 peptide-specific cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) stimulation by ex vivo dendritic cells (DC). Separated myeloid DC (a) and plasmacytoid DC (bB) from five human leucocyte antigen (HLA) A2·1-positive patients (HBV) and controls (CTR) were each loaded with synthetic HLA A2·1-restricted peptide epitopes HBc18−27 or control peptide EBV280−288, and co-incubated with an HLA A2·1-restricted HBc18−27-specific CTL clone derived from a patient with acute self-limited hepatitis B. Myeloid DC and plasmacytoid DC from five HLA A2-negative donors pulsed with HBc18−27 or the peptide HBc18−27 without DC served as negative controls. CTL-derived interferon-γ secretion was quantified in 48 h supernatants by cytokine bead array. Means and standard deviation of five simultaneously analysed DC donors per group are presented.