HIV-1 protective epitope-specific CD8+ T cells in HIV-1-exposed seronegative individuals
Takayuki Chikata,
Hiroyuki Gatanaga,
Hung The Nguyen,
Daisuke Mizushima,
Yu Zhang,
Nozomi Kuse,
Shinichi Oka,
Masafumi Takiguchi
Affiliations
Takayuki Chikata
Tokyo Laboratory and Division of International Collaboration Research, Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 162-0052, Japan; Corresponding author
Hiroyuki Gatanaga
AIDS Clinical Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
Hung The Nguyen
Tokyo Laboratory and Division of International Collaboration Research, Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 162-0052, Japan
Daisuke Mizushima
AIDS Clinical Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
Yu Zhang
Tokyo Laboratory and Division of International Collaboration Research, Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 162-0052, Japan
Nozomi Kuse
Tokyo Laboratory and Division of International Collaboration Research, Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 162-0052, Japan
Shinichi Oka
AIDS Clinical Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
Masafumi Takiguchi
Tokyo Laboratory and Division of International Collaboration Research, Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 162-0052, Japan; Corresponding author
Summary: Although previous studies have reported HIV-1-specific T cell responses in HIV-1-exposed seronegative (HESN) individuals, there has been no detailed analysis of these T cells against HIV-1 infection. We investigated HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell responses in 200 Japanese HESN men who have sex with men (MSM). T cell responses to 143 well-characterized HIV-1 epitope peptides were analyzed by intracellular cytokine staining assay consisting of 3-week cultures of PBMCs stimulated with peptides. HLA-B∗51:01-restricted Pol TI8-specific and HLA-A∗02:06-restricted Pol SV9-specific CD8+ T cells were identified in two and one individuals, respectively, whereas CD8+ T cells specific for other HLA-A∗02:06-restricted or HLA-B∗51:01 epitopes were not present in these individuals. These epitope-specific T cells recognized HIV-1-infected cells. Because these two epitopes were previously reported to be protective in HIV-1-infected individuals, these protective epitope-specific T cells might suppress HIV-1 replication in HESN-MSM individuals. The present study suggests the contribution of protective epitope-specific T cells to protection against HIV-1 infection.
