Establishment and Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Envelope-Specific CD4+ T Lymphocyte Lines from HIV-I-Seropositive Patients

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 171; no. 6; pp. 1420 - 1430
• Main Authors: Ratto, Silvia, Sitz, Karl V., Scherer, Aimée M., Manca, Fabrizio, Loomis, Lawrence D., Cox, Josephine H., Redfield, Robert R., Birx, Deborah L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Chicago Press 01.06.1995
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/171.6.1420

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-l) gpI60-, gpI20-, and tetanus toxoid-specific CD4+ T lymphocyte lines were developed from 11 HIV-l-seropositive volunteers enrolled in a vaccine therapy trial. Of the 20 HIV-1 envelope-specific T cell lines, 9 were challenged with a panel of overlapping peptides spanning the gp120LAI sequence. The most frequently recognized regions were amino acids 74–105 in the Cl region and 306–328 in the V3 region. When tested against a panel of divergent HIV-1 envelopes, 55% of the envelope-specific lines were able to recognize gp120MN, while only 22% recognized gp120SF2. Cytotoxicity testing with HIV-l envelope antigen or peptides demonstrated killing by all 3 envelope-specific lines tested. Supernatants from 2 of 9 lines had high titers of p24 gag antigen, which did not seem to interfere with functional properties.