Variable HIV peptide stability in human cytosol is critical to epitope presentation and immune escape.

ABSTRACT: Induction of virus-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses is critical for the success of vaccines against chronic viral infections. Despite the large number of potential MHC-I-restricted epitopes located in viral proteins, MHC-I-restricted epitope generation is inefficient, and factors defining the production and presentation of MHC-I-restricted viral epitopes are poorly understood. Here, we have demonstrated that the half-lives of HIV-derived peptides in cytosol from primary human cells were highly variable and sequence dependent, and significantly affected the efficiency of cell recognition by CD8⁺ T cells. Furthermore, multiple clinical isolates of HLA-associated HIV epitope variants displayed reduced half-lives relative to consensus sequence. This decreased cytosolic peptide stability diminish

SUBMITTER: Lazaro E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3104749 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature