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Buranapraditkun S, Hempel U, Pitakpolrat P, Allgaier RL, Thantivorasit P, Lorenzen SI, Sirivichayakul S, Hildebrand WH, Altfeld M, Brander C, Walker BD, Phanuphak P, Hansasuta P, Rowland-Jones SL, Allen TM, Ruxrungtham K. A novel immunodominant CD8+ T cell response restricted by a common HLA-C allele targets a conserved region of Gag HIV-1 clade CRF01_AE infected Thais. PLoS One 2011; 6:e23603. [PMID: 21887282 PMCID: PMC3161737 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2011] [Accepted: 07/20/2011] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Background CD8+ T cell responses play an important role in the control of HIV-1. The extensive sequence diversity of HIV-1 represents a critical hurdle to developing an effective HIV-1 vaccine, and it is likely that regional-specific vaccine strains will be required to overcome the diversity of the different HIV-1 clades distributed world-wide. Unfortunately, little is known about the CD8+ T cell responses against CRF01_AE, which is responsible for the majority of infections in Southeast Asia. Methodology/Principal Findings To identify dominant CD8+ T cell responses recognized in HIV-1 clade CRF01_AE infected subjects we drew upon data from an immunological screen of 100 HIV-1 clade CRF01_AE infected subjects using IFN-gamma ELISpot to characterize a novel immunodominant CD8+ T cell response in HIV-1 Gag restricted by HLA-Cw*0102 (p24, 277YSPVSILDI285, YI9). Over 75% of Cw*0102+ve subjects targeted this epitope, representing the strongest response in more than a third of these individuals. This novel CD8 epitope was located in a highly conserved region of HIV-1 Gag known to contain immunodominant CD8 epitopes, which are restricted by HLA-B*57 and -B*27 in clade B infection. Nonetheless, viral escape in this epitope was frequently observed in Cw*0102+ve subjects, suggestive of strong selection pressure being exerted by this common CD8+ T cell response. Conclusions/Significance As HLA-Cw*0102 is frequently expressed in the Thai population (allelic frequency of 16.8%), this immunodominant Cw*0102-restricted Gag epitope may represent an attractive candidate for vaccines specific to CRF01_AE and may help facilitate further studies of immunopathogenesis in this understudied HIV-1 clade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supranee Buranapraditkun
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Interdisciplinary Program of Medical Microbiology, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Ursula Hempel
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Patrawadee Pitakpolrat
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Rachel L. Allgaier
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Pattarawat Thantivorasit
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Sven-Iver Lorenzen
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Sunee Sirivichayakul
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - William H. Hildebrand
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Health Sciences Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Marcus Altfeld
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Christian Brander
- AIDS Research Institute IrsiCaixa - HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, and Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bruce D. Walker
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Praphan Phanuphak
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Center, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Pokrath Hansasuta
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Sarah L. Rowland-Jones
- Medical Research Council, Human Immunology Unit, Weather all Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Todd M. Allen
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Kiat Ruxrungtham
- Vaccine and Cellular Immunology Laboratory, Chulalongkorn Medical Research Center (ChulaMRC), and Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Center, Bangkok, Thailand
- * E-mail:
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