Cell Reports (Jul 2021)

HLA class-I-peptide stability mediates CD8+ T cell immunodominance hierarchies and facilitates HLA-associated immune control of HIV

  • Clarety Kaseke,
  • Ryan J. Park,
  • Nishant K. Singh,
  • Dylan Koundakjian,
  • Arman Bashirova,
  • Wilfredo F. Garcia Beltran,
  • Overbeck C. Takou Mbah,
  • Jiaqi Ma,
  • Fernando Senjobe,
  • Jonathan M. Urbach,
  • Anusha Nathan,
  • Elizabeth J. Rossin,
  • Rhoda Tano-Menka,
  • Ashok Khatri,
  • Alicja Piechocka-Trocha,
  • Michael T. Waring,
  • Michael E. Birnbaum,
  • Brian M. Baker,
  • Mary Carrington,
  • Bruce D. Walker,
  • Gaurav D. Gaiha

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36, no. 2
p. 109378

Abstract

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Summary: Defining factors that govern CD8+ T cell immunodominance is critical for the rational design of vaccines for viral pathogens. Here, we assess the contribution of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class-I-peptide stability for 186 optimal HIV epitopes across 18 HLA alleles using transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP)-deficient mono-allelic HLA-expressing cell lines. We find that immunodominant HIV epitopes increase surface stabilization of HLA class-I molecules in comparison to subdominant epitopes. HLA class-I-peptide stability is also strongly correlated with overall immunodominance hierarchies, particularly for epitopes from high-abundance proteins (e.g., Gag). Moreover, HLA alleles associated with HIV protection are preferentially stabilized by epitopes derived from topologically important viral regions at a greater frequency than neutral and risk alleles. These findings indicate that relative stabilization of HLA class-I is a key factor for CD8+ T cell epitope immunodominance hierarchies, with implications for HIV control and the design of T-cell-based vaccines.

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