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Cellular and Molecular Immunology logoLink to Cellular and Molecular Immunology
. 2009 Apr;6(2):117–122. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2009.16

Construction of Soluble Mamu-B*1703, a Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex of Chinese Rhesus Macaques, Monomer and Tetramer Loaded with a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Peptide

Dongyun Ouyang 1, Xiaoying Wang 1, Xianhui He 1,*, Lihui Xu 2, Huanjing Shi 1, Qi Gao 1, He Guo 1
PMCID: PMC4002648  PMID: 19403061

Abstract

Chinese-descent rhesus macaques have become more prevalent for HIV infection and vaccine investigation than Indian-origin macaques. Most of the currently available data and reagents such as major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I tetramers, however, were derived from Indian-origin macaques due to the dominant use of these animals in history. Although there are significant differences in the immunogenetic background between the two macaque populations, they share a few of common MHC class I alleles. We reported in this study the procedure for preparation of a soluble Mamu-B*1703 (a MHC class I molecule of Chinese macaques) monomer and tetramer loaded with a dominant simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) epitope IW9 (IRYPKTFGW) that was identified to be Mamu-B*1701-restricted in Indian macaques. The DNA fragment encoding the Mamu-B*1703 extracellular domain fused with a BirA substrate peptide (BSP) was amplified from a previously cloned cDNA and inserted into a prokaratic expression vector. In the presence of the antigenic peptide IW9 and light chain β2-microglobulin, the expressed heavy chain was refolded into a soluble monomer. After biotinylation, four monomers were polymerized as a tetramer by phycoerythrin-conjugated streptavidin. The tetramer, having been confirmed to have the right conformation, was a potential tool for investigation of antigen-specific CD8+ T-lymphocytes in SIV vaccine models of Chinese macaques. And our results also suggested that some antigenic peptides reported in Indian-origin macaques could be directly recruited as ligands for construction of Chinese macaque MHC tetramers.

Keywords: Mamu-B*17, MHC class I, rhesus macaque, tetramer

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