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J Virol, March 1998, p. 2439-2448, Vol. 72, No. 3
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Cytotoxic T Cells from Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type
2-Infected Patients Frequently Cross-React with Different Human
Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Clades
Antonio
Bertoletti,1,*
Fatim
Cham,1
Stephen
McAdam,2
Tim
Rostron,2
Sarah
Rowland-Jones,2
Sehu
Sabally,1
Tumani
Corrah,1
Koya
Ariyoshi,1 and
Hilton
Whittle1
Medical Research Council Laboratories,
Fajara, The Gambia, West Africa,1 and
Molecular Immunology Group, Institute of Molecular
Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU,
United Kingdom2
Received 6 August 1997/Accepted 4 December 1997
 |
ABSTRACT |
Knowledge of immune mechanisms responsible for the cross-protection
between highly divergent viruses such as human immunodeficiency virus
type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 may contribute to an understanding of whether
virus variability may be overcome in the design of vaccine candidates
which are broadly protective across the HIV subtypes. We demonstrate
that despite the significant difference in virus amino acid sequence,
the majority of HIV-2-infected individuals with different HLA molecules
possess a dominant cytotoxic T-cell response which is able to recognize
HIV-1 Gag protein. Furthermore, HLA-B5801-positive subjects show broad
cross-recognition of HIV-1 subtypes since they mounted a T-cell
response that tolerated extensive amino acid substitutions within
HLA-B5801-restricted HIV-1 and HIV-2 epitopes. These results suggests
that HLA-B5801-positive HIV-2-infected individuals have an enhanced
ability to react with HIV-1 that could play a role in cross-protection.
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INTRODUCTION |
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 are related human retroviruses that show various
biological and structural differences. HIV-2 is found mainly in West
Africa, whereas HIV-1 is spreading throughout the world. HIV-2 is less
transmissible, and HIV-2-positive patients exhibit longer clinical
latency periods than individuals infected with HIV-1 (23). A
recent report has also shown that the mortality in HIV-2-infected
individuals is only twice as high as in the uninfected population and,
in the majority of adults, survival is not affected by HIV-2 status
(31).
Although the two viruses are similar in genomic organization, various
genetic and enzymatic differences have been found at many stages of the
retroviral life cycle. They differ significantly in terms of amino acid
sequence, the more conserved being the Pol and Gag sequences, which
exhibit less than 60% homology (17).
Despite these differences, epidemiological data and animal studies have
shown some evidence of cross-protection between the two viral
infections. Travers et al. reported that HIV-2-infected women had a
lower incidence of HIV-1 infection than did HIV-seronegative women in a
cohort of commercial sexual workers in Dakar (37), and
rhesus macaques immunized with a recombinant HIV-1 poxvirus vaccine are
protected against HIV-2 challenge (2). These studies, though
not conclusive (1, 6), suggest that differences in the virus
may not necessarily preclude the development of defensive immunity to a
subsequent pathogenic infection, an old-fashioned concept pioneered by
Jenner, who used cowpox to vaccinate against human smallpox.
The immunological basis of cross-protection is largely unknown, and a
clear understanding of the role played by the humoral or cell-mediated
immune response in HIV protection is still lacking. However, mounting
evidence suggests that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response could be
the key element. Indeed, the protection afforded in animal models
against simian (13) and feline (12) immunodeficiency virus infections is closely correlated with the induction of specific CTL response, and HIV-1 and HIV-2
HLA-B35-restricted cross-reactive CTLs have been postulated to confer
protection against repeated HIV exposure (33).
CTLs recognize short viral peptides, 8 to 11 amino acids long, that are
generated by the intracellular processing of endogenously synthesized
viral antigens within the infected cells, which are expressed at the
cell surface in the binding groove of HLA class I molecules. The
specificity of the T-cell response is determined by the interaction of
the antigen-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) with the peptide-HLA
complex, and this interaction, together with non-antigen-specific
signals, activates the CTLs (15).
The presence of cross-reactive CTLs able to lyse HIV-1- or
HIV-2-infected cells should be dependent on the extent of conservation between the two viruses within the epitopes selected by particular HLA
class I molecules. It is well known that amino acid substitutions within the epitopes can abrogate the CTL response by inhibiting either
HLA binding or TCR recognition (32). However, a number of
recent studies have shown that T cells can recognize apparently unrelated peptides (10, 41), and crystallographic data have shown physical limits to the TCR epitope specificity due to the limited
size of contact between the TCR and the peptide (14), suggesting a flexibility in T-cell recognition of antigen
(19).
Some individuals with a particular HLA profile which is responsible for
presentation of the viral antigen and for selection of the T-cell
repertoire may possess a CTL response not affected by mutations within
the epitope, as has been demonstrated in subjects with HLA alleles B27
(28) and B35 (33). In these cases, amino acid
substitutions within the HIV-1 and -2 epitopes were tolerated by the
CTLs.
In this study, we have investigated the extent of cross-reacting CTLs
between HIV-2 and HIV-1 in a group of HIV-2-infected subjects with
different HLA class I types. We have shown that despite differences in
amino acid sequence between the two viruses, the majority of
HIV-2-positive subjects possess CTLs which are able to recognize HIV-1
Gag protein.
Furthermore, analysis of HLA profiles and the fine specificity of the
cytotoxic response demonstrated that HLA-B5801-positive subjects show
broad cross-recognition of HIV-1 isolates. These subjects mounted a CTL
response that tolerated extensive amino acid substitutions within an
HLA-B5801-restricted HIV-1 epitope.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Study subjects.
Eighteen HIV-2-positive patients were
recruited in The Gambia. Ethical approval was obtained from The Gambia
Government/MRC Ethical Committee. All the patients were asymptomatic,
with no history of antiretroviral drugs and CD4 percentages in the
normal range (>30%).
Patients attending the MRC clinic were initially tested by a combined
HIV-1 and HIV-2 enzyme immunoassay (Wellcozyme 1+2; Murex Diagnostics,
Dartford, Kent, England). The diagnosis of HIV-2 infection was made on
the basis of negative HIV-1 and positive HIV-2 competitive
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (36) followed by
type-specific peptide-based immunoenzymatic strips (PeptiLav; Diagnostic Pasteur, Marnes-la-Cougette, France). HIV-1 negativity was
repeatedly reconfirmed during the period of the study. In addition,
HIV-2 positivity was confirmed by PCR for HIV-2 proviral DNA (using
specific long terminal repeat primer sets for HIV-2 as described in
references 5 and 33).
HLA typing.
Tissue typing was performed at HLA class I and
class II by amplification refractory mutation system-PCR using
sequence-specific primers (8) following DNA extraction from
3 ml of whole blood by a salting-out method (Puregene DNA extraction
kit; Gentra Systems Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.). The level of resolution
of this method is equivalent or greater than that obtained with
serological tissue typing and is especially suitable for non-Caucasian
populations for whom serological typing may be difficult to perform in
the field or inaccurate because the relevant antisera are not readily available. Certain specificities (HLA-A2, -A30, and -B58) were further
subtyped by nested single specific primer-PCR.
rVV.
Recombinant vaccinia viruses (rVV) expressing the
HIV-2ROD gag and pol genes were
supplied by Transgene (Strasbourg, France). rVV expressing the
HIV-2BEN nef gene was supplied by G. Voss, and a
control vaccinia virus expressing an irrelevant protein (
-galactosidase) was supplied by B. Moss. rVV expressing the gag genes of HIV-1 subtypes A1, A2, and C were produced and
characterized as described previously (25). Briefly, A2 and
C p55 of Gag was amplified by PCR from plasmids kindly supplied by F. McCutchan (Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, Md.), using the
Pfu enzyme with the following primers:
5'-GTAACCATGGGTGCGAGAGCG-3' and
5'-GGCCAGATCTCATGATTTGAGGGAA-3'. PCR products were then
digested with the restriction enzymes BglII and
NcoI and cloned into pSC11 precut with NcoI and
BglII. The p55 DNA for virus A1 was originally amplified
from a Ugandan patient and cloned into a modified pCDNA3 plasmid
(supplied by Peter Balfe, University College Hospital, London,
England). This fragment was then excised by digestion with
BamHI and NcoI and subcloned into pSC11, precut
with NcoI and BglII. Maxipreps of each clone were prepared by using a CsCl protocol and then sequenced by using the
Sequenase version 2.0 protocol (U.S. Biochemical). TK143 cells were
then infected with wild-type vaccinia virus at a multiplicity of
infection of 0.5 and transfected with 15 µg of DNA resuspended in 100 µl of double-distilled H2O and 50 µl of Lipofectin
reagent (Gibco, Life Technologies, Paisley, Scotland) as instructed by the manufacturer. Cells were harvested 2 days later, and rVV were isolated by three rounds of plaque purification. Stocks were then grown
and titers were determined as previously described (26).
The vaccinia virus expressing the subtype B Gag has been described
elsewhere (
27).
Overlapping peptides.
Peptides were purchased from Chiron
Mimotopes (Clayton, Victoria, Australia). The HIV-2ROD Gag
peptides were 18-mers overlapping by 12 residues. The purity of
peptides was determined by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid
chromatography (80 to 90% purity). Peptides were dissolved in dimethyl
sulfoxide and diluted in RPMI 1640.
Production of HIV-2-specific CTL lines.
Bulk-cultured CTLs
were generated as previously described (27). In brief,
one-fifth of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), separated from
whole blood or thawed from previously frozen samples stored in liquid
nitrogen, was added to the other four-fifths after 24 h of
stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (2 µg/ml; Sigma Chemical Co., St.
Louis, Mo.) to activate expression of autologous HIV. The cells were
cultured in RPMI 1640 (Sigma) supplemented with antibiotics and 10%
fetal calf serum (Globepharm, Esher, Surrey, England) for 5 days,
after which 10% Lymphocult T (Biotest) was added to the medium. CTL
lines were maintained for 2 to 3 weeks by adding medium containing 10%
Lymphocult T every 3 days. Assays were performed on days 10 to 21 of
culture.
Target cell preparation.
Epstein-Barr virus-transformed
B-lymphoblastoid cell lines established from each subject were infected
with rVV at a multiplicity of infection of 3:1 for 1 h and
cultured in RPMI 1640 plus 20% fetal calf serum for 16 h. The
cells were then labeled with 51Cr (100 µCi of
Na251CrO4; Amersham International,
Amersham, England) for 1 h and washed twice. In peptide-based
assays, target cells labeled with 51Cr were pulsed either
with pools of five peptides or with individual synthetic peptides for
1 h.
Cr release assay.
In 96-well U-bottom plates, target cells
were aliquoted at 5,000 per well. Effector cells were added to targets
at different effector-to-target (E/T) ratios. The amount of
51Cr released in the culture supernatants was quantitated
after 5 to 6 h of incubation, and percent cytotoxicity was
determined by using the following formula: (E
M/D
M) × 100, where E is the experimental 51Cr
release, M is the 51Cr released in the presence
of culture medium (which ranged between 15 and 25% of total release),
and D is the total 51Cr released in the presence
of 5% Triton X-100 detergent. Results were regarded as positive if
recognition of the HIV rVV or peptides was greater than 10% above that
of peptide or vaccinia virus controls.
Test for expression of HIV-1 rVV.
After the cytotoxic assay,
the approximate efficiency of infection of the targets was checked by
resuspending the remaining targets in 500 ml of 300 mM
5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-
-D-galactopyranoside (X-Gal)
in double-distilled H2O before incubation at 37°C for 1 h. A blue color was indicative of vaccinia virus expression. This was not done for targets infected with HIV-2 gag,
pol, and nef rVV since they do not carry the
galactosidase gene. Any assays in which the targets did not show
equivalent staining by X-Gal were discarded.
 |
RESULTS |
CTL in HIV-2-positive patients predominantly recognize HIV-2 Gag
protein.
HIV-2 CTL responses against the structural proteins Gag
and Pol and against the nonstructural regulatory protein Nef were investigated in 18 HIV-2-infected patients. PBMC were stimulated in
vitro with endogenous virus by coculture with autologous
phytohemagglutinin-activated T cells and then expanded with
interleukin-2. Polyclonal T-cell lines were tested against autologous
target cells infected with rVV expressing the HIV-2ROD Gag,
Pol, and Nef proteins. Some HIV-2-positive subjects, from whom the
lines did not grow in sufficient numbers to allow a complete screen,
were tested only against Gag (patient 9 [P9]) or against Gag and Pol
(P6, P10, P13, and P14).
As shown in Table
1, in almost all cases,
HIV-2-specific cytolytic activity which predominantly recognized the
antigen derived
from the
gag gene product was demonstrable.
Indeed, polyclonal
T-cell lines derived from 15 of 18 HIV-2-positive
patients were
able to recognize target cells expressing the HIV-2 Gag
protein,
whereas recognition of the
pol gene product was
detectable in
5 of 16 subjects and Nef-specific cytolytic activity was
present
in 4 of 12 subjects.
Different lines produced in the same patients (e.g., P6) gave
comparable results, and the recognition of HIV-2 Gag protein
by CTL was
restricted by HLA class I molecules (Fig.
1).

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FIG. 1.
Recognition of HIV-2 Gag protein by CTL lines of patient
6 (A) Effector cells were tested against autologous target cells at an
E/T ratio of 20:1. Before 51Cr labeling, targets were
infected with rVV (VW, wild-type vaccinia virus; Vgag HIV-2, rVV
carrying the HIV-2 gag open reading frame; V pol HIV-2, rVV
carrying the HIV-2 pol open reading frame. (B) HIV-2
Gag-specific CTL lines were tested against autologous or allogenic
target cells infected with wild-type and HIV-2 Gag vaccinia virus.
Specific lysis was calculated by subtracting lysis of target cells
infected with wild-type vaccinia virus from lysis of those infected
with HIV-2 Gag vaccinia virus. Shared HLA alleles are indicated. The
complete HLA class I profile of patient 6 is A0201 A3 B5801 B35 C4
C0302. The E/T ratio was 40:1.
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HIV-2 Gag-specific CTL lines recognize the Gag proteins of
different HIV-1 clades.
Since Gag-specific CTLs were the
predominant population in HIV-2 subjects, HIV-1 and HIV-2
cross-reactive CTL were analyzed by testing polyclonal Gag-specific CTL
lines against target cells presenting Gag proteins from four different
HIV-1 subtypes. rVV carrying the gag genes of four strains
derived from HIV-1 subtypes isolated in Uganda (A1), Thailand (A2),
Europe (B), and Uganda (C) were constructed (25).
Nine of eleven of the HIV-2-infected subjects demonstrated HIV-2 Gag
CTLs able to recognize antigen derived from the
gag gene
product of at least one HIV-1 clade (Fig.
2). Five subjects demonstrated
a broad
level of cross-reactivity, since CTL lines induced in
these subjects
were able to recognize at least three different
HIV-1 clades (Fig.
2A).
In four other patients (P6 to P9), we
were able to demonstrate
recognition of one (Fig.
2B) HIV-1 clade,
whereas only two subjects
(P10 and P11) had no cross-reactive
CTL (Fig.
2C). CTL lines from three
subjects (P3, P5, and P7)
expressed a level of lysis of HIV-1 Gag
comparable to that of
the HIV-2 Gag protein. In the other subjects,
lysis of target
cells expressing HIV-1 Gag proteins was lower than
lysis of the
HIV-2 Gag-expressing targets. To confirm these results, we
investigated
whether HIV-2 Gag-specific CTL lines produced at different
time
points express a stable pattern of cross-reactivity. In two of
three patients (P8 and P10), the results of CTL cross-reactivity
at
different time points showed complete consistency. In P5, there
was
cross-reactivity against three HIV-1 clades on one occasion
and against
all four on another (Fig.
3). The
analysis of the
HLA class I profile of the patient population studied
shows that
the HLA-B5801 molecule was present in four of five patients
who
demonstrate broad cross-reactivity.

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FIG. 2.
Cross-recognition of HIV-2 and HIV-1 Gag protein by
HIV-2 Gag-specific CTL lines. Effector cells were tested against
autologous target cells infected with rVV expressing the Gag proteins
of HIV-2 and HIV-1 clades A1, A2, B, and C (see the legend to Fig. 1).
(A) Patients with broad cross-reactivity; (B and C) patients with
limited (B) and no (C) cross-reactivity. HLA class I profiles of the
different subjects are shown at the top of each panel. The E/T ratio
varied according to the number of cells that grew from each culture but
was usually between 20:1 and 50:1. Recognition of different HIV-1
clades was regarded as positive if lysis of different HIV-1 Gag rVV was
more than 10% above the level of control vaccinia virus.
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FIG. 3.
CTL lines show a stable pattern of HIV-1 Gag
cross-recognition. CTL lines were produced from PBMC isolated on the
date indicated. Effector CTL were tested against autologous target
cells infected with the indicated rVV. The E/T ratio is indicated and
varied according to the number of cells that grew from each culture.
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Fine specificity of the HIV-2 Gag-specific CTL response.
To
determine whether HIV-1 and HIV-2 cross-reactivity was due to
recognition of viral sequences conserved between the two viruses which
were presented by selected HLA alleles, we screened the epitope
specificity of the Gag-specific CTL responses of three subjects.
Two of the patients (P1 [A0205 A3402 B1801 B5801 C0501 C1701] and P2
[A0201 A0301 B5801 B5301 C0302 C4]) were able to recognize
A1, A2,
and B HIV-1 clades; the third patient (P11 [A0201 A23
B67 B56 C0302])
did not recognize any HIV-1 Gag proteins. To define
the sequences
recognized by the Gag-specific CTL lines, 85 overlapping
synthetic
peptides spanning the p16 and p28 sequences of HIV-2
Gag were pooled in
17 mixtures of five peptides each (Fig.
4).
In the first step, the mixtures were
used to sensitize autologous
target cells; then peptides present in the
mixtures that had sensitized
target cells for CTL lysis were used
individually.

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FIG. 4.
Sequences of the 18-mer synthetic peptides covering the
whole HIV-2ROD Gag protein. The mixtures of peptides used
for sensitization of target cells in the fine specificity assays are
indicated.
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Figure
5a shows that CTL line of P1 lysed
target cells pulsed with the mixtures covering regions 211-252 (mix 8)
and 241-282
(mix 9); the assay performed with target cells pulsed with
individual
peptides showed a clear recognition of peptide 235-252 (Fig.
5b).
It is noteworthy that an HLA-B57 and -B58 HIV-1 clade B epitope
(underlined) has been demonstrated in p24 region 240-249 (TST
LQEQI
GW)
(
16); alignment of Gag
sequences of HIV-2 and HIV-1 showed that
this HIV-1 epitope is
represented by HIV-2
ROD sequence 241-250
(TST
VEEQI
QW). P2 presented a multispecific CTL
response focused
on different epitopes within the Gag protein. The
Gag-specific
CTL line lysed target cells pulsed with four different
mixtures
(mixes 6, 7, 8, and 9), with a dominant CTL response directed
against mix 9 (Fig.
5c). Individual peptides overlapping mixes
6 and 7 (not shown), 7 and 8 (not shown), and 8 and 9 (Fig.
5d)
were used to
sensitize target cells and demonstrate lysis in targets
sensitized with
peptides 175-192 and 181-198 (an epitope likely
in region 181-192)
(not shown) and with peptides 235-252 and 241-258
(an epitope likely in
region 241-252).

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FIG. 5.
Fine specificity of the Gag-specific CTL response. CTL
lines of P1 (a and b), P2 (c and d), and P11 (e and f) were tested
against autologous target cells pulsed with peptide mixtures (a, c, and
e) or individual peptides selected from the responding mixtures (b, d,
and f). The concentration of the peptides used for sensitized target
cells was always 1 µM; the E/T ratio was 10:1.
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The CTL line from P11, who did not demonstrate cross-recognition
between HIV-1 and -2, lysed target cells pulsed with the
mixtures
covering regions 151-192 (mix 6) and 181-222 (mix 7)
of p28 (Fig.
5e).
Since the two peptide mixtures overlapped, it
was likely that epitope
recognition of the Gag-specific CTL line
was in region 181-192. The
cytotoxic assay performed with individual
peptides to sensitize target
cells confirmed that lysis was present
only in cells pulsed with
peptides 175-192 and 181-198 (Fig.
5f),
suggesting that the cytotoxic
epitope is located within sequence
181-192.
Taken together, the results of these fine specificity studies show that
the two subjects able to recognize region 241-252
demonstrated CTL
lysis of target cells expressing HIV-1 Gag proteins
of clades A1, A2,
and B (Fig.
6), whereas P11, with a
Gag-specific
CTL response focused in region 181-192, was not able to
recognize
the Gag proteins of different HIV-1 clades (Fig.
6).

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FIG. 6.
Different patterns of cross-reactivity expressed by CTL
lines recognizing HIV-2 Gag sequences 181-192 and 241-252 and
comparison of amino acid sequences of HIV-2ROD and HIV-1
clade A1, A2, B, and C Gag expressed by different rVV in these two
regions. Amino acids which differ from the HIV-2 index sequence are
indicated within the boxes. The amino acid sequence of the HIV-1
B57-B58-restricted Gag epitope 240-249 is also shown.
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Furthermore, HLA restriction experiments carried out with CTL lines
able to recognize HIV-2 peptide 235-252 demonstrated that
presentation
of the peptide to Gag-specific CTL lines was mediated
by the HLA-B5801
molecule (Fig.
7). Analysis of the amino
acid
sequence of the HIV-2 and HIV-1 Gag proteins expressed by the
different rVV show that in region 181-192, the two viruses differed
in
five amino acids, but also in HIV-2 region 241-252, three distinct
amino acid substitutions, at positions 244, 245, and 249, were
present
and interestingly grouped in region 241-250, corresponding
to the HIV-1
Gag epitope 240-249.

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FIG. 7.
HLA-restricted recognition of HIV-2 Gag peptide
235-252. HIV-2 Gag peptide 235-252-specific CTL lines of P1 and P2
were tested against autologous target cells, target cells matched only
at HLA-B5801, or unmatched target cells pulsed or unpulsed with the
peptide at a concentration of 1 µM. The E/T ratio was 10:1. Lysis of
the different targets is indicated.
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Nevertheless, the amino acid residues involved in the peptide binding
to the HLA-B5801 molecules were conserved (serine at
position 2 and
tryptophan at position 9) (
11), and the recognition
of
target cells expressing HIV-1 Gag clades A1, A2, and B suggests
that
the amino acid substitutions present in the HIV-1 sequences
could be
tolerated by the TCRs of HIV-2-specific CTL.
This hypothesis was analyzed by testing the recognition of the HIV-1
(clades B and A2) Gag peptide 240-249 by HIV-2 Gag peptide
235-252-specific CTL lines. CTL lines specific for the HIV-2 sequence
recognized the target cells pulsed with the HIV-1 peptide 240-249
(Fig.
8).

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FIG. 8.
Recognition of B57-B58-restricted HIV-1 Gag epitope
240-249 by CTL lines specific for HIV-2 Gag peptide 235-252. Lysis of
target cells incubated with the HIV-1 and HIV-2 peptides (1 µM) is
indicated. The E/T ratio was 10:1.
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Induction of the CTL response by HIV-1 peptide in an HIV-2-infected
subject.
The requirements of lysis or proliferation of CTL are
different, and cytotoxicity can be elicited by triggering a small
number of TCRs (38). The capacity to induce a CTL response
specific for HIV-2 and -1 by HIV-2 Gag peptide 241-258 (containing
sequence 241-250 [TSTVEEQIQWMFRPQNPV]) and by HIV-1 Gag peptide
240-249 (TSTLQEQIGW) was measured in the PBMC of subject P2. Figure
9 shows that the HIV-1 peptide was able
to induce a CTL response that recognizes both HIV-1 and HIV-2 Gag
proteins. Although we cannot completely rule out that this subject had
been primed by previous HIV-1 challenge, the fact that this subject is
not a commercial sexual worker makes such a possibility less likely.

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FIG. 9.
HIV-1-specific CTL induction by HIV-1 peptide 240-249.
PBMC of patient 2 (HLA-B5801 positive) were stimulated either with
HIV-1 Gag peptide 240-249 or HIV-2 Gag peptide 235-252 for 7 days and
then tested against HLA-B5801-positive target cells infected with rVV
expressing unrelated, HIV-2, and HIV-1 A2 Gag proteins as described in
Materials and Methods.
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It is not possible to compare the relative efficacies of CTL induction
by the two virus sequences since we used for our assay
peptides of
different lengths (HIV-2 18-mer peptide and HIV-1
9-mer peptide) that
may substantially differ in HLA binding. Nevertheless,
the data show
that the HIV-1 peptides containing three amino acid
substitutions with
respect to the prototype HIV-2 sequence could
still activate a CTL
response, suggesting that an HIV-1 challenge
in an HIV-2-infected
subject could activate an HIV-1-specific
CTL response.
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DISCUSSION |
In this study, we used polyclonal CTL lines selected from PBMC of
HIV-2-infected subjects by stimulation with the whole autologous HIV-2
to define whether a dominant HIV-2-specific CTL response has the
ability to recognize HIV-1. The lines were tested initially against the
product of HIV-2 gag, nef, and
pol genes. The gag and pol genes of
HIV-1 and -2 display about 60% nucleotide sequence homology. It is
thus more likely that homologies between the linear amino acid sequence
of the two viruses presented to CTL are present in these two proteins.
The CTL response against Env protein, which has only 40% amino acid
homology and a high degree of intraclade variability, was not measured.
A clear immunodominance of the CTL response against HIV-2 Gag protein
was present in our patient population, confirming previous work
involving HIV-2-infected patients (5). Whether the ability to mount a Gag-specific CTL response in HIV-2 infection correlates with
lower rate of disease progression as has been demonstrated in long-term
asymptomatic HIV-1 infection needs more careful analysis of a large
HIV-2 patient population (20).
The analysis of the ability of HIV-2 Gag-specific CTL lines to
recognize different HIV-1 subtypes derived from different geographical areas demonstrates that a majority (9 of 11) of HIV-2 subjects have
cross-reactive CTL able to lyse target cells presenting Gag proteins of
different HIV-1 clades.
The molecular basis of the cross-recognition could be explained by the
HLA profile of the individuals, since different HLA molecules may
select for sequence with high homology between the heterologous HIV
isolates. On the other hand, CTL cross-recognition of peptides with
little homology has been shown not only in HIV-1 and HIV-2 infections
(28, 33, 39) but also in other viral infections (4, 22,
35). In all of these cases, amino acid substitutions within the
epitopes were well tolerated.
The analysis of HLA profiles and the fine specificity of the HIV-2
Gag-specific CTL response in our HIV-2-infected patients shows that
four of the five patients with broad cross-reactivity toward HIV-1
subtypes are HLA-B5801 positive and that this HLA molecule is able to
select an HIV-2-specific CTL response which recognizes an HIV-1
sequence. This peptide, corresponding to HIV-1 Gag region 240-249, is
immunodominant and associated with slow progression of the disease in
HLA-B57 and -B5801 HIV-1-positive patients (16).
The HIV-1 240-249 and HIV-2 241-250 Gag regions show the presence of
three amino acid substitutions (Fig. 6) which do not affect the
residues at positions 2 and 10 involved in the peptide binding to HLA
molecules (11, 16) and are not able to abolish recognition
of the HIV-1 sequence by the HIV-2-specific CTLs. These results
demonstrate that cross-reactive CTLs do not need to be specific for
complete sequence homologies; some amino acid substitutions within the
cytotoxic epitopes can be tolerated.
Even though we favor the idea of broad cross-reactivity due to the
flexibility of TCR recognition, we must point out that our experiments
were carried out with polyclonal CTL lines, as we did not want to
narrow the T-cell repertoire present in our patients. For this reason,
we cannot completely rule out the possibility that distinct populations
of CTL with separate specificities for HIV-1 and HIV-2 are responsible
for the cross-recognition. This interpretation implies that in the
majority of the HIV-2-positive patients we were able to expand a
preexisting HIV-1-specific memory CTL population, as has been
demonstrated in a mouse model of virus infections (34) in
which extensive cross-reactivity between distantly related viruses was
due to reactivation of memory CTLs as a result of previous exposure.
However, even in this model, a degree of cross-reactivity at the clonal
level was present, and it seems very unlikely that 9 of 11 of our
HIV-2-infected subjects have been challenged by HIV-1, have completely
controlled the infection, and have developed an HIV-1 memory CTL
response. Although a definitive demonstration of wide cross-reactivity
needs a clonal T-cell analysis, our data show that a large proportion
of HIV-2-infected subjects have an ongoing cytotoxic response that has
the ability to recognize HIV-1 and that tolerated some amino acid
substitutions within the epitopes.
It is of note that in our experiments, target cells expressing
different HIV-1 Gag proteins with identical amino acid sequences in the
epitopes presented in association with HLA-B58 were not equally
recognized by CTLs. For example CTLs from P1 recognize HIV-1 clades A2
and B differently, even though their sequences in Gag region 241-252 are identical (Fig. 6). Variations in the sequences flanking defined
cytotoxic epitopes, probably affecting peptide transport or processing,
have been demonstrated to affect CTL recognition (9). It is
thus possible that a different level of loading of peptide 241-252 in
HLA-B5801 molecules is achieved by different HIV-1 clades, influencing
the level of CTL recognition. Furthermore, P1 and P2, who recognize the
same epitope in the context of the HLA-B5801 molecule, show different
levels of cross-reactivity toward HIV-1 Gag proteins. However, the CTL
assays were performed with polyclonal CTL lines, and while P1 shows an
HIV-2 Gag-specific CTL response focused on the single cross-reactive
sequence Gag 241-252, P2 show a multispecific CTL response. CTL
specific for the non-cross-reactive (HIV-2 Gag 181-192) and
cross-reactive (HIV-2 Gag 241-252) sequences are present in this line
(Fig. 5c). Only a fraction of HIV-2 Gag-specific CTLs are likely to be
responsible for the cross-reactivity demonstrated by P2, which would
account for the lower level of HIV-1 Gag protein recognition. An
alternative interpretation of these differing patterns of
cross-reactivity is that different CTLs are likely to be selected in
different individuals in response to the same HLA-peptide complex
(24). These CTLs would be differentially influenced by the
amino acid substitutions present in the corresponding HIV-1 Gag
sequence.
A recent study of HIV-1-infected subjects failed to demonstrate the
presence of CTLs which are cross-reactive between HIV-1 and HIV-2
(25). The difference between HIV-1- and HIV-2-infected subjects may be in the different T-cell repertoires present in the two
viral infections, which have low heterogeneity in HIV-1 infection
(18, 29) and may limit recognition of epitope variants with
mutations in regions interacting with the TCR (30). If HIV-2-infected patients demonstrate a broader T-cell repertoire, this
finding might explain not only the different degree of
cross-recognition but also the different clinical outcome of the two
infections.
In this study, we also found that stimulation of PBMC of HIV-2-infected
subjects by an HIV-1 peptide led to the detection of a CTL population
able to recognize HIV-1, suggesting that the HIV-2-infected subjects
after HIV-1 challenge may expand a CTL population with a potential
protective effect against HIV-1 infection.
In conclusion, this work suggests that immunity against HIV-2 may
enhance the immune system's ability to react with HIV-1. However, the
demonstration of cross-reactive CTL against HIV-1 in HIV-2-positive
subjects does not necessarily mean that these cells play a role in
protection. Indeed, we cannot rule out the possibility that recognition
of the altered HIV-1 peptide has an antagonistic effect on the CTL
response (7, 21) or can stimulate different cytokines
(40) with a negative effect on the antiviral immune
response.
However, it is important to point out that the HLA-B5801 and -B35
molecules that appear to preferentially select cross-reactive CTLs are
present in about 50 to 60% of the Gambian and Senegalese populations
(3). Work by Travers et al. has suggested that approximately
more than half of the women with HIV-2 infection are protected against
HIV-1 (37).
Analysis of the frequencies of the HLA-B5801 and -B35 alleles in the
HIV-2-infected and dually infected populations with the same relative
risk for HIV-1 infection could be important for understanding whether
the cross-reactive CTLs play a decisive role in the protection and
should help in the design of a rational candidate vaccine that may
broadly protect against HIV-1 infection.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
We thank the donors in this study for their participation and K. Joof for his hard work in the collection of blood samples. We are
grateful for the technical assistance of P. T. N'Gom, A. Bayang,
and M. N'Jie. We thank K. McAdam, Director of the MRC Laboratories,
The Gambia, for his support.
This work was supported by an MRC Project Grant and partly by Human
Science Shinkou Zaidan, Japan.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Institute of
Hepatology, University College London Medical School, 69-75 Chenies
Mews, London WC1E 6HX, United Kingdom. Phone: 171-3800401. Fax:
171-3800405. E-mail: a.bertoletti{at}ucl.ac.uk.
 |
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J Virol, March 1998, p. 2439-2448, Vol. 72, No. 3
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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