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. 1991 Aug;65(8):4051–4056. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.8.4051-4056.1991

An HLA-C-restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte clone recognizes a highly conserved epitope on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gag.

R A Littaua 1, M B Oldstone 1, A Takeda 1, C Debouck 1, J T Wong 1, C U Tuazon 1, B Moss 1, F Kievits 1, F A Ennis 1
PMCID: PMC248836  PMID: 1712857

Abstract

A unique epitope on the gag protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), located at amino acid 145 to 150, has been mapped by using a CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) clone. This epitope is highly conserved among 18 HIV-1 strains. The HIV-1 gag-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted CD8+ CTL clone was generated from fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells of an HIV-seropositive donor by stimulation with gamma-irradiated allogeneic peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody and recombinant interleukin-2. This gag-specific CTL clone killed autologous target cells infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus containing the gag gene of HIV-1 and target cells pulsed with an authentic p24gag construct expressed in Escherichia coli. Fine specificity was determined by using a panel of overlapping 30-amino-acid-long synthetic peptides and subsequently using smaller peptides to precisely map the CTL domain on p24. The epitope is on a highly conserved region, and it overlaps with a major B-cell epitope of gag. This CD8+ T-cell epitope is restricted by HLA-Cw3, which has not been previously identified as a restricting element for human CTL responses.

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Selected References

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