FIG. 1.

IFN-γ ELISPOT cross-reactivity screening assay. PBMCs from HLA-A2⁺, HIV-monoinfected (a) and HCV/HIV-coinfected (b) individuals were screened for their response to the SL9 and/or AL9 peptide by direct ex vivo IFN-γ ELISPOT assay. An irrelevant HLA-A2-restricted MAGE peptide (FLWGPRALV; FV9) was used as a control for the HIV monoinfection screen. HLA-A2-restricted peptide HCV-CI9 was used as a random control for the coinfection screen. A positive response was defined as one that was 2-fold higher than that for the DMSO background (presented by the red horizontal line) with a minimum of 50 spots per 10⁶ PBMCs and is presented as the number of SFUs/million PBMCs.