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Journal of Virology, March 2002, p. 2567-2572, Vol. 76, No. 5
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.76.5.2567-2572.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Sequence Variation in a Newly Identified HLA-B35-Restricted Epitope in the Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein Associated with Escape from Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes
A. C. M. Boon,1 G. de Mutsert,1 Y. M. F. Graus,2 R. A. M. Fouchier,1 K. Sintnicolaas,3 A. D. M. E. Osterhaus,1 and G. F. Rimmelzwaan1*
Institute of Virology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3015 GE Rotterdam,1
Numico Research B. V., 6700 CA Wageningen,2
Laboratory for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, Bloodbank Rotterdam, 3318 AS Dordrecht, The Netherlands3
Received 24 September 2001/
Accepted 28 November 2001

ABSTRACT
Here, we describe a new HLA-B*3501-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte
(CTL) epitope in the influenza A virus (H3N2) nucleoprotein,
which was found to exhibit a high degree of variation at nonanchor
residues. The influenza virus variants emerged in chronological
order, and CTLs directed against old variants failed to recognize
more recent strains of influenza A virus, indicating an escape
from CTL immunity.

TEXT
CD8
+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) contribute to the control
of viral infections by recognizing antigenic peptides of viral
proteins presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
class I molecules on infected cells. The specific recognition
of these MHC-peptide complexes by CTLs may lead to the elimination
of virus-infected cells. One of the mechanisms exploited by
viruses to evade recognition by CTLs (
19,
23,
28) involves antigenic
variation in CTL epitopes or mutations in sequences flanking
these epitopes. Antigenic variation in CTL epitopes, resulting
in the evasion of immune surveillance by specific CTLs, has
been described for several viruses that cause chronic infections,
including Epstein-Barr virus (
5,
8,
9,
12), human immunodeficiency
virus (
4,
7,
13,
14,
22,
26), hepatitis B virus (
1,
2), and
hepatitis C virus (
6,
35).
Recently, mutations were also found at the anchor residue of an HLA-B*2705-restricted epitope of the influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP), which consisted of amino acids 383 to 391 (NP383-391). Both the R384G and the R384K mutations abolished class I-restricted presentation and allowed for escape from CTL recognition (34). Thus, these viruses, which cause acute infections in a significant portion of the human population annually, can escape from immune surveillance by CTLs in addition to escaping from neutralizing antibodies (antigenic drift and antigenic shift).
For the identification of new CTL epitopes, CD3+- and CD8+-T-cell clones were generated by limiting dilution (34) from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of an HLA-A*0101-, HLA-A*0201-, HLA-B*0801-, and HLA-B*3501-positive donor after in vitro stimulation with influenza virus Resvir-9, a reassortant vaccine strain of A/Nanchang/933/95 (3). For the initial specificity testing of the T-cell clones, an enzyme-linked immunospot assay was used, as described previously (3), with cells from the infected autologous B-lymphoblastoid cell line (BLCL) as stimulator cells. Clone 1980-1 was found to recognize a yet unidentified epitope in an HLA-B*3501- and HLA-B*3503-restricted fashion, as demonstrated with cells from the HLA-matching and -nonmatching infected BLCL as target cells (Fig. 1A;
also data not shown). This clone was specific for the NP of influenza A virus (H3N2), since it lysed target cells incubated with recombinant NP (rNP) (Fig. 1B), as described previously (3, 33). By using a CTL epitope prediction program (25) (http://www.umds.ac.uk/tissue), putative HLA-B*3501-restricted epitopes in the NP of influenza A virus (H3N2) were predicted. The 9-mer with the highest ranking, LPFEKSTVM (NP418-426/1980), was synthesized and was found to be recognized by the T-cell clone 1980-1 in a CTL assay (Fig. 1C). Removal of the C-terminal methionine abolished recognition by clone 1980-1 (Fig. 1D). A similar result was observed when the lysine at the N terminus of the 9-mer epitope LPFEKSTVM was removed. Addition of one amino acid at the N or C terminus of the epitope did not significantly improve recognition of target cells, indicating that NP418-426 was the minimal epitope.
Experiments with rNPs from different virus strains indicated
that clone 1980-1 did not react with the rNP obtained from A/Hong
Kong/2/68 (H3N2) (data not shown). Therefore, known NP
418-426 sequences of influenza A viruses obtained from the influenza
sequence database (http://www.flu.lanl.gov) were compared. It
was found that the amino acid sequence in the epitope varied
at four positions and that these variants emerged in chronological
order. All variants and their designations are shown in Table
1.
Although the strains used for NP sequence comparison were
not controlled for passage history of the strains (eggs grown
or passaged in mammalian cell lines), it is unlikely that this
has biased the analysis, since no immediate selective pressure
on the NP was observed by adaptation in eggs, as was the case
for the hemagglutinin (
29).
A T2 cell line expressing HLA-B*3501 (
30) was used to assess
the affinity of the NP
418-426 epitopes for the HLA-B*3501 molecule
as previously described (
32). The concentration of peptide necessary
to inhibit the signal (mean fluorescence intensity [MFI]) of
the fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled reference peptide LPSC
FLADVEF
(
20) by 50% (IC
50) was determined. The mean IC
50 of the NP
418-426/1980
epitope was 1.1 µM, while the mean IC
50s of the NP
418-426/1972
and NP
418-426/1957 epitopes were 1.5 and 1.6 µM, respectively;
this indicates that all three epitopes bound strongly and in
the same order of magnitude to HLA-B*3501 (Table
2),
which suggests
that the three peptides represent CTL epitopes. For comparison,
the IC
50 of a previously described HLA-B35-restricted influenza
A virus epitope, M1
128-135, was determined and found to be higher
than the highest concentration used (20 µM).
The frequency of peptide-specific CTL precursors was determined
for the NP
418-426/1980, NP
418-426/1972, and NP
418-426/1957 variants
of the epitope and found to differ considerably among four HLA-B35
+ donors (Table
3).
The average frequency of NP
418-426/1980-specific
cells was 1 in 7,426, ranging from 1 in 4,073 to 1 in 15,485,
which is relatively high compared to the frequencies of other
CTL epitopes of influenza A virus (
3), indicating that NP
418-426/1980
is an immunodominant epitope. The mean frequency of NP
418-426/1972-specific
cells was much lower (1 in 16,226); however, one donor exhibited
a high number of NP
418-426/1972-specific cells. For the NP
418-426/1957
epitope, low to undetectable numbers of specific cells were
detected.
Based on the prevalence of the sequences (Table
1), we decided
to focus on the NP
418-426/1980, NP
418-426/1972, and NP
418-426/1957
epitopes. Since mutations in the NP
418-426 epitope emerged in
an evolutionary fashion, we speculated that CTL immunity directed
against these epitopes was the basis for the selection and/or
emergence of mutant viruses. To test this hypothesis, more T-cell
clones were raised against historic (A/Victoria/3/75) and recent
(Resvir-9) viruses by using PBMC from HLA-B35
+ donors obtained
in the year 2001. CTL clone 1972-1 directed against the NP
418-426/1972
epitope failed to recognize the NP
418-426/1980 epitope (Fig.
2A).
Similarly, three out of five CTL clones (1980-1, 1980-4,
and 1980-5) directed against the NP
418-426/1980 epitope failed
to react with the NP
418-426/1957 and NP
418-426/1972 epitopes
(Fig.
2C; also data not shown). With the other two CTL clones
(1980-2 and 1980-3), some cross-reactivity was observed with
the epitopes in older influenza A virus strains (Fig.
2B; also
data not shown). The absence of recognition of the NP
418-426/1980
epitope by CTLs directed against older variants was also demonstrated
with PBMC obtained from two donors stimulated in vitro with
influenza virus A/Victoria/3/75 (Fig.
3E;
also data not shown).
These PBMC did, however, recognize the homologous NP
418-426/1972
epitope. PBMC of some donors displayed cross-reactivity with
both variants after stimulation with A/Victoria/3/75 or Resvir-9
(Fig.
3). This cross-reactivity can be explained by the expansion
of cross-reactive CTLs in PBMC, a phenomenon previously described
in C57BL/10 mice infected with different strains of influenza
A virus (
15). Finally, one donor (donor 5017) did not respond
at all after stimulation with A/Victoria/3/75 (Fig.
3C).
To exclude the influence of consecutive natural infections with
various influenza A viruses on the NP
418-426-specific CTL response,
we obtained HLA-A2
+ HLA-B35
+ PBMC cryopreserved between the
years 1982 and 1984. Since this occurred shortly after the introduction
of the NP
418-426/1980 variant epitope, the chance of an infection
with an NP
418-426/1980 variant virus in these donors was relatively
small. The NP
418-426/1980 epitope was not recognized by the
PBMC of these donors (donors 1 and 2) (Fig.
4)
after stimulation
with both a recent strain of influenza virus (Resvir-9) and
A/Victoria/3/75, which contained the NP
418-426/1972 epitope.
The lack of NP
418-426/1980-specific activity was not caused
by the absence of virus-specific CTL activity, since the NP
418-426/1972
variant epitope and the conserved HLA-A*0201-restricted M1
58-66 epitope were recognized.
Based on these findings, we argue that in addition to the variation
in the HLA-B8- and HLA-B*2705-restricted epitopes, NP
380-388 and NP
383-391, respectively, the variation in this newly identified
HLA-B*3501-restricted NP
418-426 epitope is driven by CTL immunity,
leading to escape from recognition by these CTLs. The variations
in the NP
380-388 and NP
383-391 epitopes were found at the anchor
residues (R
384G mutation) of the respective 9-mers (
34). In
the NP
418-426 epitope, the anchor residues for binding to HLA-B35
were perfectly conserved in all virus strains isolated and sequenced
since 1933. It can be speculated that variation at these residues
is restricted by functional constraints. For example, an R
267A
mutation within an HLA-A3-restricted epitope has been shown
to affect RNA binding by NP (
11). Since the NP of A/Hong Kong/2/68,
containing the NP
418-426/1957 epitope, and the NP of A/Netherlands/18/94,
containing the NP
418-426/1980 epitope, function equally well
(
34) and both viruses grow to comparable titers, it is unlikely
that the mutations in the NP
418-426 epitope were selected based
on the improved fitness of these viruses.
HLA-B35-positive individuals constitute a significant portion of the human population, ranging from 5% in Orientals to 10% in Caucasians (21). The immune pressure mediated by CTLs in these individuals recognizing the NP418-426 epitope may have contributed to the emergence of escape mutant viruses from the quasi species of influenza viruses and their continued circulation. As a result of the immunodominant nature of the epitope, the CTL response might have been oligoclonal in HLA-B35+ individuals, allowing for the selection of mutant viruses. Alternatively, other unknown epitopes may overlap with NP418-426, further contributing to the selection pressure. The variants are maintained in HLA-B35-negative individuals because the mutations in the NP418-426 epitope did not reduce the fitness of these viruses. It is of interest that the infection of mice transgenic for a single T-cell receptor (TCR) specific for the H-2Db-restricted NP366-374 epitope of influenza A virus resulted in the emergence of viruses containing amino acid mutations in this epitope, which impaired the presentation of viral peptides by MHC class I molecules or interfered with T-cell receptor recognition (27). Other mutations at nonanchor residues have been described only for sporadic virus isolates, and their effect on T-cell recognition was not studied (24). A mutation in a CTL epitope (NS1122-130) in the (not naturally occurring) high-yield vaccine strain of influenza virus A/Texas/36/91 (31) inhibited recognition by a CTL clone. Other mechanisms based on mutations in CTL epitopes contributing to reduction or elimination of CTL recognition have been described, like "original antigenic sin" (18), antagonism (16, 17), and anergy. Although original antigenic sin and anergy were not investigated in great detail, in one of the PBMC samples, obtained in 1982, a response was found that was specific for the NP418-426/1972 epitope but not for the homologous NP418-426/1980 epitope used for stimulation.
In conclusion, a new variable CTL epitope was identified in the NPs of influenza A viruses. Epidemiological and immunological evidence indicates that the variation found in this epitope was the result of antigenic drift resulting from immune pressure mediated by specific CTLs. Thus, in addition to the introduction of mutations in the surface glycoproteins, which allows for escape from antibody-mediated immunity, further evidence which shows that influenza viruses can escape from CTL-mediated immunity is accumulating. This would make these viruses masters in disguise, partially explaining their relative success in infecting a large portion of the human population every year for the past several decades.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We acknowledge Liane van de Kemp for growing, purifying, and
sequencing the influenza A virus samples. Furthermore, we thank
Wilfried Levering for performing the HLA typing, Saskia Sakko
for organizing the blood collection from the blood donors (Bloodbank
Rotterdam), and Ger van der Water for continuous support. We
also thank P. van der Bruggen, for FITC-labeled reference peptide,
D. Roelen, F. Claas and M. Takiguchi for PBMC cryopreserved
in the 1980s, the T2 cell line expressing HLA-B*3501.
Part of this work was supported by the Foundation for Respiratory Virus Infections, Notably Influenza (SRVI), and Numico Research BV. R. A. M. Fouchier is a fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences.

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Virology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-10-4088066. Fax: 31-10-4089485. E-mail:
rimmelzwaan{at}viro.fgg.eur.nl.


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Journal of Virology, March 2002, p. 2567-2572, Vol. 76, No. 5
0022-538X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.76.5.2567-2572.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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