HIV-1 Envelope T Cell Epitope “Hotspots ” among Mice And Humans And among CD4+ And CD8+ T Cell Subpopulations

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Abstract
HIV-1-specific T cell responses correlate with control of infection and disease, thus encouraging a full understanding of the peptides and antigen-processing mechanisms that govern T cell activation. We have previously demonstrated that CD4+ T cell epitopes cluster nonrandomly within envelope protein “hotspot” regions. The current study was initiated to determine whether envelope-specific CD8+ T cells might share epitope “hotspots” with the CD4+ T cell population. Identification of CD8+ T cell determinants by ELISPOT assays with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from four HIV-1-infected individuals, in conjunction with a survey of determinants in the Los Alamos database, revealed similarities among “hotspot” positions for CD4+ and CD8T+ cells within mice and humans. These results emphasized the important influence that envelope peptide position may have on antigen processing, and the consequent impact such processing may have on HIV-1-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell activities.