FIG. 3.
Amino acid variation was observed in three Mamu-B*17-restricted epitopes. Most of the coding regions for Vif and Nef were sequenced at the time of euthanasia or late chronic SIV infection in 31 Mamu-B*17-positive and 31 Mamu-B*17-negative animals. Of 31 Mamu-B*17-positive animals, four were ECs. An asterisk indicates that viral sequences from ECs represent the recrudescent virus after experimental CD8 cell depletion in four Mamu-B*17-positive ECs (19). We could not obtain sequences from other ECs due to their extremely low viral loads. Double asterisks indicate that macaque r95003 (Mamu-B*17 negative) made an HW8-specific response, as well as a cRW9-specific response, and harbored SIV with escape mutations in both epitopes (41). Triple asterisks indicate that this variant confers escape from an overlapping Mamu-A*02-restricted epitope, Nef159-167YY9 (58).