The recognition of a viral antigenic moiety by class I MHC-restricted cytolytic T lymphocytes is limited by the availability of the endogenously processed antigen

Gregg N. Milligan, Lynda A. Morrison, John Gorka, Vivian L. Braciale, Thomas J. Braciale

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The transmembrane hydrophobic domain of the type A influenza A/JAPAN/305/57 (H2N2) hemagglutinin (HA) contains an immunodominant site encompassing amino acids 523-545 (J523-545) recognized by class I MHC-restricted cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL). Class I CTL of two fine specificity subsets map to this transmembrane (TM) site. One of these CTL subpopulations is subtype specific. These T lymphocytes recognize the site generated during infection of target cells with A/JAPAN/305/ 57 virus (H2N2) but not target cells expressing the comparable TM site of the influenza A/PR/8/34 virus (H1N1) hemagglutinin (P527-549) after infection with this virus. The other CTL subpopulation is cross-reactive and recognizes the TM site of the A/ JAPAN/305/57 HA and the A/PR/8/34 HA with similar efficiency. Analyses of the critical amino acids in the TM site necessary for CTL recognition with the use of synthetic peptides unexpectedly revealed reactivity for the A/PR/8 HA TM site by subtype-specific CTL. This reactivity was only observed with truncated peptides corresponding to a limited portion of the A/PR/8 HA TM site but also required peptide concentrations >10-7 M. These results suggested either that the endogenously processed A/ PR/8 HA TM site generated during infection was larger than the site defined by the truncated cross-reactive peptides or that the concentration of endogenously processed TM site produced during infection was limiting. To distinguish between these possibilities, we expressed in target cells synthetic minigenes encoding only the portion of the A/PR/8 HA transmembrane sites defined by the synthetic peptides. Unlike the peptides, the "preprocessed" endogenous minigene products were not recognized by subtype-specific CTL. These data suggest that the level of available endogenously processed Ag rather than selectivity in the site of fragmentation of newly synthesized Ag may play a critical role in determining whether the complex of the antigenic moiety and class I MHC is efficiently presented to and recognized by class ICTL.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3188-3193
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Immunology
Volume145
Issue number10
StatePublished - Nov 15 1990
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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