scholarly journals Patient-Specific Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Cross-Recognition of Naturally Occurring Variants of a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) p24gagEpitope by HIV-1-Infected Children

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 4941-4946 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Buseyne ◽  
M.-L. Chaix ◽  
C. Rouzioux ◽  
S. Blanche ◽  
Y. Rivière

ABSTRACT We tested seven human immunodeficiency virus-infected children for their cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activities towards the p24 gag QASQEVKNW epitope and its nine variant sequences. Our data confirm that most, but not all, CTL responses are broadly cross-specific. For the first time, we show the high interpatient variability in cross-recognition of mutant CTL epitopes. These interindividual variations in the CTL response to the same epitope should be taken into account in the design and the evaluation of vaccines.

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 4430-4434 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. McGettigan ◽  
Heather D. Foley ◽  
Igor M. Belyakov ◽  
Jay A. Berzofsky ◽  
Roger J. Pomerantz ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Novel viral vectors that are able to induce both strong and long-lasting immune responses may be required as effective vaccines for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. Our previous experiments with a replication-competent vaccine strain-based rabies virus (RV) expressing HIV-1 envelope protein from a laboratory-adapted HIV-1 strain (NL4–3) and a primary HIV-1 isolate (89.6) showed that RV-based vectors are excellent for B-cell priming. Here we report that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses against HIV-1 gp160 are induced by recombinant RVs. Our results indicated that a single inoculation of mice with an RV expressing HIV-1 gp160 induced a solid and long-lasting memory CTL response specific for HIV-1 envelope protein. Moreover, CTLs from immunized mice were not restricted to the homologous HIV-1 envelope protein and were able to cross-kill target cells expressing HIV-1 gp160 from heterologous HIV-1 strains. These studies further suggest promise for RV-based vectors to elicit a persistent immune response against HIV-1 and their potential utility as efficacious anti-HIV-1 vaccines.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (18) ◽  
pp. 12100-12105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thillagavathie Pillay ◽  
Hua-Tang Zhang ◽  
Jan W. Drijfhout ◽  
Nicola Robinson ◽  
Helen Brown ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The role of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) escape in rapidly progressive infant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is undefined. The data presented here demonstrate that infant HIV-1-specific CTL can select for viral escape variants very early in life. These variants, furthermore, may be selected specifically in the infant, despite the same CTL specificity being present in the mother. Additionally, pediatric CTL activity may be compromised both by the transmission of maternal escape variants and by mother-to-child transmission of escape variants that originally arose in the father. The unique acquisition of these CTL escape forms may help to explain the severe nature of some pediatric HIV infections.


1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 3472-3474 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Binley ◽  
Xia Jin ◽  
Yaoxing Huang ◽  
Linqi Zhang ◽  
Yunzhen Cao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Long-term nonprogressor AD-18 has been infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) for at least 16 years. During the past 5 years, he has had undetectable levels of plasma viremia, and HIV-1 cannot be isolated from him. Sequencing of proviral DNA indicates that the only HIV-1 sequences that can be identified in AD-18 have gross defects in the p17-encoding regions of the gag gene (Y. Huang, L. Zhang, and D. D. Ho, Virology 240:36–49, 1998). However, AD-18 has strong, sustained antibody responses to several HIV-1 antigens, including p17. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses to Env and Gag antigens have gradually diminished over the past 4 years, at a time when the titers of antibodies to the same proteins have remained stable. We discuss what these observations might mean for the generation and maintenance of immunological memory.


1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 6721-6728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros A. Kalams ◽  
Philip J. Goulder ◽  
Amy K. Shea ◽  
Norman G. Jones ◽  
Alicja K. Trocha ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Therapeutic suppression of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication may help elucidate interactions between the host cellular immune responses and HIV-1 infection. We performed a detailed longitudinal evaluation of two subjects before and after the start of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Both subjects had evidence of in vivo-activated and memory cytotoxic T-lymphocyte precursor (CTLp) activity against multiple HIV-1 gene products. After the start of therapy, both subjects had declines in the levels of in vivo-activated HIV-1-specific CTLs and had immediate increases in circulating HIV-1-specific CTL memory cells. With continued therapy, and continued suppression of viral load, levels of memory CTLps declined. HLA A*0201 peptide tetramer staining demonstrated that declining levels of in vivo-activated CTL activity were associated with a decrease in the expression of the CD38+ activation marker. Transient increases in viral load during continued therapy were associated with increases in the levels of virus-specific CTLps in both individuals. The results were confirmed by measuring CTL responses to discrete optimal epitopes. These studies illustrate the dynamic equilibrium between the host immune response and levels of viral antigen burden and suggest that efforts to augment HIV-1-specific immune responses in subjects on HAART may decrease the incidence of virologic relapse.


1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 6715-6720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros A. Kalams ◽  
S. P. Buchbinder ◽  
E. S. Rosenberg ◽  
J. M. Billingsley ◽  
D. S. Colbert ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Cellular immune responses are thought to be an important antiviral host defense, but the relationship between virus-specific T-helper and cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses has not been defined. To investigate a potential link between these responses, we examined functional human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific memory CTL precursor frequencies and p24-specific proliferative responses in a cohort of infected untreated persons with a wide range of viral loads and CD4 cell counts. Levels of p24-specific proliferative responses positively correlated with levels of Gag-specific CTL precursors and negatively correlated with levels of plasma HIV-1 RNA. These data linking the levels of HIV-specific CTL with virus-specific helper cell function during chronic viral infection provide cellular immunologic parameters to guide therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine development.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (16) ◽  
pp. 8927-8930 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Feeney ◽  
Y. Tang ◽  
K. A. Roosevelt ◽  
A. J. Leslie ◽  
K. McIntosh ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The emergence of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) escape mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) proteins has been anecdotally associated with progression to AIDS, but it has been difficult to determine whether viral mutation is the cause or the result of increased viral replication. Here we describe a perinatally HIV-infected child who maintained a plasma viral load of <400 copies/ml for almost a decade until a nonbinding escape mutation emerged within the immunodominant CTL epitope. The child subsequently experienced a reemergence of HIV-1 viremia accompanied by a marked increase in the number of CTL epitopes targeted. This temporal pattern suggests that CD8 escape can play a causal role in the loss of immune control.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (11) ◽  
pp. 5594-5605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Schneidewind ◽  
Mark A. Brockman ◽  
John Sidney ◽  
Yaoyu E. Wang ◽  
Huabiao Chen ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Control of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by HLA-B27-positive subjects has been linked to an immunodominant CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response targeting the conserved KK10 epitope (KRWIILGLNK263-272) in p24/Gag. Viral escape in KK10 typically occurs through development of an R264K substitution in conjunction with the upstream compensatory mutation S173A, and the difficulty of the virus to escape from the immune response against the KK10 epitope until late in infection has been associated with slower clinical progression. Rare alternative escape mutations at R264 have been observed, but factors dictating the preferential selection of R264K remain unclear. Here we illustrate that while all observed R264 mutations (K, G, Q, and T) reduced peptide binding to HLA-B27 and impaired viral replication, the replicative defects of the alternative mutants were actually less pronounced than those for R264K. Importantly, however, none of these mutants replicated as well as an R264K variant containing the compensatory mutation S173A. In assessing the combined effects of viral replication and CTL escape using an in vitro coculture assay, we further observed that the compensated R264K mutant also displayed the highest replication capacity in the presence of KK10-specific CTLs. Comparisons of codon usage for the respective variants indicated that generation of the R264K mutation may also be favored due to a G-to-A bias in nucleotide substitutions during HIV-1 replication. Together, these data suggest that the preference for R264K is due primarily to the ability of the S173A-compensated virus to replicate better than alternative variants in the presence of CTLs, suggesting that viral fitness is a key contributor for the selection of immune escape variants.


2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 2706-2709 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Schutten ◽  
C. A. van Baalen ◽  
C. Guillon ◽  
R. C. Huisman ◽  
P. H. M. Boers ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Early after seroconversion, macrophage-tropic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) variants are predominantly found, even when a mixture of macrophage-tropic and non-macrophage-tropic variants was transmitted. For virus contracted by sexual transmission, this is presently explained by selection at the port of entry, where macrophages are infected and T cells are relatively rare. Here we explore an additional mechanism to explain the selection of macrophage-tropic variants in cases where the mucosa is bypassed during transmission, such as blood transfusion, needle-stick accidents, or intravenous drug abuse. With molecularly cloned primary isolates of HIV-1 in irradiated mice that had been reconstituted with a high dose of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we found that a macrophage-tropic HIV-1 clone escaped more efficiently from specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) pressure than its non-macrophage-tropic counterpart. We propose that CTLs favor the selective outgrowth of macrophage-tropic HIV-1 variants because infected macrophages are less susceptible to CTL activity than infected T cells.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document