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Despite limited data supporting the superiority of dominant over subdominant responses, immunodominant epitopes represent the preferred vaccine candidates. To address the function of subdominant responses in human immunodeficiency virus infection, we analyzed cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses restricted by HLA-B*1503, a rare allele in a cohort infected with clade B, although common in one infected with clade C. HLA-B*1503 was associated with reduced viral loads in the clade B cohort but not the clade C cohort, although both shared the immunodominant response. Clade B viral control was associated with responses to several subdominant cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes, whereas their clade C variants were less well recognized. These data suggest that subdominant responses can contribute to in vivo viral control and that high HLA allele frequencies may drive the elimination of subdominant yet effective epitopes from circulating viral populations.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/ni1281

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nat Immunol

Publication Date

02/2006

Volume

7

Pages

173 - 178

Keywords

AIDS Vaccines, Amino Acid Sequence, Cohort Studies, Epitope Mapping, Epitopes, Genetic Variation, HIV Antigens, HIV Infections, HIV-1, HLA-B Antigens, HLA-B15 Antigen, Humans, Immunodominant Epitopes, In Vitro Techniques, Molecular Sequence Data, T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic, Virus Replication