Mba. Oldstone et al., A COMMON ANTIVIRAL CYTOTOXIC LYMPHOCYTE-T EPITOPE FOR DIVERSE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX HAPLOTYPES - IMPLICATIONS FOR VACCINATION, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 89(7), 1992, pp. 2752-2755
Of nine established murine haplotypes, mice of three types (H-2d, H-2u
, and H-2q) possess major histocompatibility complex class I glycoprot
eins able to present an identical viral peptide for recognition and ly
sis by virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Incorporation of this v
iral epitope into a recombinant vaccinia vaccine and administration of
a single dose protects mice with these three haplotypes from an ordin
arily lethal challenge of virus. Hence, a common epitope can exist. Th
e sharing of the ability to bind such epitopes among different MHC hap
lotypes underscores the feasibility of developing an effective cytotox
ic T-lymphocyte vaccine for outbred populations like humans.