Fig 3.

Characterization of novel CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell epitopes. Results from two representative patients are shown. (A to C) Patient 32. (D to F) Patient 29. (A) IFN-γ and CD107a production elicited by peptides NS3 120 and CAP 15 were assessed by ICS in T cell lines as described in the legend to Fig. 1. Plots are gated on CD3⁺ CD8⁺ (left) or CD3⁺ CD4⁺ (right) cells. The novel CD8⁺ peptide NS3 120 was further characterized for recognition of the flanking peptides (B) and HLA restriction by testing HLA-matched, peptide-pulsed EBV cell lines for their ability to stimulate peptide-specific T cell lines (C). The name of the EBV cell line and the HLA type that is shared with the patient are indicated above each plot. Similarly, the novel peptide NS3 68 was characterized for HLA restriction (D) and recognition of the flanking peptides (E). (F) Serial dilutions of truncated versions of peptide NS3 68 were evaluated for their capacity to elicit an IFN-γ response by ELISPOT in the patient's T cell line. Results are expressed as SPC/10⁵ cells. The minimal 9mer epitope that elicited the highest production of IFN-γ is underlined. The total length and the first three amino acids are used to identify each truncated peptide.