HLA-B63 presents HLA-B57/B58-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes and is associated with low human immunodeficiency virus load

J Virol. 2005 Aug;79(16):10218-25. doi: 10.1128/JVI.79.16.10218-10225.2005.

Abstract

Several HLA class I alleles have been associated with slow human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression, supporting the important role HLA class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) play in controlling HIV infection. HLA-B63, the serological marker for the closely related HLA-B*1516 and HLA-B*1517 alleles, shares the epitope binding motif of HLA-B57 and HLA-B58, two alleles that have been associated with slow HIV disease progression. We investigated whether HIV-infected individuals who express HLA-B63 generate CTL responses that are comparable in breadth and specificity to those of HLA-B57/58-positive subjects and whether HLA-B63-positive individuals would also present with lower viral set points than the general population. The data show that HLA-B63-positive individuals indeed mounted responses to previously identified HLA-B57-restricted epitopes as well as towards novel, HLA-B63-restricted CTL targets that, in turn, can be presented by HLA-B57 and HLA-B58. HLA-B63-positive subjects generated these responses early in acute HIV infection and were able to control HIV replication in the absence of antiretroviral treatment with a median viral load of 3,280 RNA copies/ml. The data support an important role of the presented epitope in mediating relative control of HIV replication and help to better define immune correlates of controlled HIV infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antigen Presentation*
  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte*
  • HIV Infections / immunology*
  • HIV Infections / virology
  • HLA-B Antigens / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / immunology*
  • Viral Load*

Substances

  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
  • HLA-B Antigens
  • HLA-B57 antigen