Control of HIV-1 Replication by CD8+ T Cells Specific for Two Novel Pol Protective Epitopes in HIV-1 Subtype A/E Infection.

Although many HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell epitopes have been identified and used in various HIV-1 studies, most of these epitopes were derived from HIV-1 subtypes B and C. Only 17 well-defined epitopes, none of which were protective, have been identified for subtype A/E infection. The roles of HIV-1-specific T cells have been rarely analyzed for subtype A/E infection. In this study, we identified six novel HLA-B*15:02-restricted optimal HIV-1 subtype A/E epitopes and then analyzed the presentation of these epitopes by HIV-1 subtype A/E virus-infected cells and the T cell responses to these epitopes in treatment-naive HIV-1 subtype A/E-infected HLA-B*15:02+ Vietnamese individuals. Responders to the PolTY9 or PolLF10 epitope had a significantly lower plasma viral load (pVL) than nonresponders among HLA-B*15:02+ individuals, whereas no significant difference in pVL was found between responders to four other epitopes and nonresponders. The breadth of T cell responses to these two Pol epitopes correlated inversely with pVL. These findings suggest that HLA-B*15:02-restricted T cells specific for PolTY9 and PolLF10 contribute to the suppression of HIV-1 replication in HLA-B*15:02+ individuals. The HLA-B*15:02-associated mutation Pol266I reduced the recognition of PolTY9-specific T cells in vitro but did not affect HIV-1 replication by PolTY9-specific T cells in Pol266I mutant virus-infected individuals. These findings indicate that PolTY9-specific T cells suppress replication of the Pol266I mutant virus even though the T cells selected this mutant. This study demonstrates the effective role of T cells specific for these Pol epitopes to control circulating viruses in HIV-1 subtype A/E infection. IMPORTANCE It is expected that HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells that effectively suppress HIV-1 replication will contribute to HIV-1 vaccine development and therapy to achieve an HIV cure. T cells specific for protective epitopes were identified in HIV-1 subtype B and C infections but not in subtype A/E infection, which is epidemic in Southeast Asia. In the present study, we identified six T cell epitopes derived from the subtype A/E virus and demonstrated that T cells specific for two Pol epitopes effectively suppressed HIV-1 replication in treatment-naive Vietnamese individuals infected with HIV-1 subtype A/E. One of these Pol protective epitopes was conserved among circulating viruses, and one escape mutation was accumulated in the other epitope. This mutation did not critically affect HIV-1 control by specific T cells in HIV-1 subtype A/E-infected individuals. This study identified two protective Pol epitopes and characterized them in cases of HIV-1 subtype A/E infection.

Clinical Control of HIV-1 by Cytotoxic T Cells Specific for Multiple Conserved Epitopes.

UNLABELLED: Identification and characterization of CD8(+) T cells effectively controlling HIV-1 variants are necessary for the development of AIDS vaccines and for studies of AIDS pathogenesis, although such CD8(+) T cells have been only partially identified. In this study, we sought to identify CD8(+) T cells controlling HIV-1 variants in 401 Japanese individuals chronically infected with HIV-1 subtype B, in which protective alleles HLA-B*57 and HLA-B*27 are very rare, by using comprehensive and exhaustive methods. We identified 13 epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells controlling HIV-1 in Japanese individuals, though 9 of these epitopes were not previously reported. The breadths of the T cell responses to the 13 epitopes were inversely associated with plasma viral load (P = 2.2 × 10(-11)) and positively associated with CD4 count (P = 1.2 × 10(-11)), indicating strong synergistic effects of these T cells on HIV-1 control in vivo. Nine of these epitopes were conserved among HIV-1 subtype B-infected individuals, whereas three out of four nonconserved epitopes were cross-recognized by the specific T cells. These findings indicate that these 12 epitopes are strong candidates for antigens for an AIDS vaccine. The present study highlighted a strategy to identify CD8(+) T cells controlling HIV-1 and demonstrated effective control of HIV-1 by those specific for 12 conserved or cross-reactive epitopes. IMPORTANCE: HLA-B*27-restricted and HLA-B*57-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play a key role in controlling HIV-1 in Caucasians and Africans, whereas it is unclear which CTLs control HIV-1 in Asian countries, where HLA-B*57 and HLA-B*27 are very rare. A recent study showed that HLA-B*67:01 and HLA-B*52:01-C*12:02 haplotypes were protective alleles in Japanese individuals, but it is unknown whether CTLs restricted by these alleles control HIV-1. In this study, we identified 13 CTLs controlling HIV-1 in Japan by using comprehensive and exhaustive methods. They included 5 HLA-B*52:01-restricted and 3 HLA-B*67:01-restricted CTLs, suggesting that these CTLs play a predominant role in HIV-1 control. The 13 CTLs showed synergistic effects on HIV-1 control. Twelve out of these 13 epitopes were recognized as conserved or cross-recognized ones. These findings strongly suggest that these 12 epitopes are candidates for antigens for AIDS vaccines.

Observation of interactions of human serum components with transferrin by affinity capillary electrophoresis.

Interaction of human transferrin (TF) with human serum components was investigated by affinity capillary electrophoresis. It was found that any peaks of human serum protein fractions did not give migration time change on addition of intact TF to running buffer (50mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.5), whereas two peaks belonging to alpha-globulin fraction showed marked acceleration upon addition of desialylated TF. These results provide strong evidence that the sialic acid residue in TF masks its binding ability to serum proteins. The association constants of desialylated TF to these interactive components, estimated based on the double reciprocal plot of migration time change vs. glycoprotein concentration, were at a high level of 10(7)M(-1). TF is well known as a ferric ion transfer protein, and hence formation of this protein might be changed by ferric ion. The presence of iron(II) played no essential role in this interaction, though its influence was not negligible.

Search for serum protein-binding disaccharides and disaccharide-binding serum proteins by affinity capillary electrophoresis.

The potential use of affinity capillary electrophoresis in a microscale search for mutually interacting substances in biological fluid is demonstrated. Some disaccharides, especially gentiobiose (Gen), derivatized with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone, caused peak retardation when electrophoresed in a neutral running buffer, containing human serum. Gen, the most significantly retarded disaccharide, was converted to its negatively charged bis-mercaptoethanesulfonate derivative (MerESGen), and a serum sample was analyzed in a neutral buffer containing the derivatized disaccharide. Two peaks, belonging to the beta-globulin fraction, were found to be remarkably retarded in the buffer containing MerES-Gen in a concentration-dependent way. These findings prove an interaction between disaccharides and serum proteins.