Broad cross-clade T-cell responses to gag in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 non-B clades (A to G): importance of HLA anchor residue conservation.

ABSTRACT: We aimed to identify cross-clade human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) specific T-cell responses among 10 HLA-typed individuals who were infected with non-B HIV-1 strains (A, AG, C, D, G, or F) and to correlate these responses with genetic variation in documented T-cell epitopes. T-cell reactivity was tested against peptide pools spanning clade B Gag, Pol, Nef, Rev, and Tat consensus, with Gag and Nef providing the highest responses. Nine individuals who responded to clade B Gag demonstrated cross-reactive T-cell responses against clade A and C Gag pools, while six of seven responders to Nef-B reacted to clade A and C Nef pools. An inverse correlation between the height of the T-cell responses and the sequence divergence of the HLA class I-restricted epitopes was identified when we c

SUBMITTER: Geels MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1193573 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature