HLA-E restricted, HIV-1 suppressing, Gag specific CD8+ T cells offer universal vaccine opportunities
Yang H., Rei M., Brackenridge S., Brenna E., Sun H., Abdulhaqq S., Liu M., Ma W., Kurupati P., Xu X., Cerundolo V., Jenkins E., Davis S., Sacha J., Früh K., Picker L., Borrow P., Gillespie G., McMichael A.
Human leukocyte antigen-E (HLA-E) normally presents a HLA class Ia signal peptide to the NKG2A/C-CD94 regulatory receptors on natural killer (NK) cells and T cell subsets. Rhesus macaques immunized with a cytomegalovirus vectored simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) vaccine, generated Mamu-E (HLA-E homolog) restricted T cell responses that mediated post-challenge SIV replication arrest in >50% of animals. However, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) specific HLA-E restricted T cells have not been observed in HIV-1-infected individuals. Here we primed HLA-E restricted HIV-1 specific CD8+ T cells in vitro. These T cell clones, and allogeneic CD8+ T cells transduced with their T cell receptors, suppressed HIV-1 replication in CD4+ T cells in vitro . Vaccine induction of efficacious HLA-E restricted HIV-1 specific T cells should therefore be possible. One Sentence Summary CD8 + T cells that recognize a Gag peptide presented by HLA-E suppress HIV-1 replication in vitro .