CTL lines have now been generated against defined peptides of a range of human tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). One of the potential uses of these epitope-specific CTLs is in adoptive transfer immunotherapy. This is a modality, however, that will require long-term in vitro culture of CTLs. To date, little has been reported concerning the phenotypic stability of human epitope-specific CTLs as a...

OBJECTIVE To determine the capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with single or multiple-peptide mixtures of novel hepatitis C virus (HCV) epitopes to stimulate HCV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) effector functions. METHODS A bioinformatics approach was used to predict HLA-A2-restricted HCV-specific CTL epitopes, and the predicted peptides identified from this screen were synthesize...

This study was designed to test whether cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses to DNA vaccination are dependent upon MHC class II-restricted priming of CD4+ T cells. Because DNA vaccination may directly transfect dendritic cells, and dendritic cells may be capable of directly stimulating CD8+ T cell responses, such priming might be unnecessary. To test this hypothesis, C57BL/6 mice were immunized int...

The 94-kD large tumor (T) antigen specified by simian virus 40 (SV40) is sufficient to induce cell transformation. T antigen contains four H-2Db-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) recognition epitopes that are targets for CTL clones Y-1, Y-2, Y-3, and Y-5. These epitopes have been mapped to T antigen amino acids 207-215 (site I), 223-231 (sites II and III), and 489-497 (site V), respective...

A panel of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-specific, CD8+, major histocompatibility complex class I (H-2Kb)-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) clones was derived from HSV-1-immunized C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice in order to identify the HSV-1 CTL recognition epitope(s) which confers type specificity. HSV-1 x HSV-2 intertypic recombinants were used to narrow the region encoding potential CTL rec...

HIV-1-specific CTL responses play a key role in limiting viral replication. CTL responses are sensitive to viral escape mutations, which influence recognition of the virus. Although CTLs have been shown to recognize epitope variants, the extent of this cross-reactivity has not been quantitatively investigated in a genetically diverse cohort of HIV-1-infected patients. Using a novel bioinformati...

We have investigated the possibility of inducing cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) to Ras containing a mutation at position 61 or to normal Ras, using recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing these proteins. CTL from C57Bl/10 mice immunized with vaccinia expressing mutant Ras showed specificity for the mutant Ras protein and recognition of normal Ras was inefficient. The opposite specificity was obs...

Host immunologic factors, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), are thought to contribute to the control of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) replication and thus delay disease progression in infected individuals. Host immunologic factors are also likely to influence perinatal transmission of HIV-1 from infected mother to infant. In this study, the potential role...

The proteasome is the principal provider of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-presented peptides. Interferon (IFN)-gamma induces expression of three catalytically active proteasome subunits (LMP2, LMP7, and MECL-1) and the proteasome-associated activator PA28. These molecules are thought to optimize the generation of MHC class I-presented peptides. However, known information on the...

The CTL response to HIV-1 is more vigorous than for any known human pathogen and may be a significant factor in preventing the progression to symptomatic disease. T cell lines, generated by non-specific stimulation with PHA and IL-2, may be reproducibly used to identify HIV-1 isolate-invariant epitopes recognized by the CTL of infected individuals. The CTL response in each of 12 infected indivi...