FIG 5.

Alternate HLA restriction of the Env_171–180 epitope. (A) The HLA restriction of the Env_165–180 CD8 T cell response found in a non-HLA-Cw0801 subject was deduced using a panel of six EBV-transformed B cell lines. The EBV B cell lines were pulsed with the Env_165–180 peptide and used to stimulate short-term T cell lines derived from the subject. HLA alleles that were common between the subject and the respective EBV B cell lines are indicated by an X. (B) The optimal epitope of the HLA-B3503-restricted Env_165–180 response was identified by stimulating Env_165–180-specific T cell lines with truncated peptides spanning Env_165–180. (C) The allele frequencies of the top three most common HLA-B35 subtypes are shown in bars while the heat map shows their geographical distributions. Heat maps and data were obtained from the NCBI dbMHC website (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gv/mhc). (D) EBV B cells expressing HLA-B3501 or B3503 were pulsed with Env_165–180 peptide and used as targets to activate the Env_165–180-specific short-term T cell lines derived from the subject described above. An EBV B cell line not expressing HLA-B35 was used as a control.