Nr. Hegde et al., Bovine lymphocyte antigen-A11-specific peptide motif as a means to identify cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes of bovine herpesvirus 1, VIRAL IMMUN, 12(2), 1999, pp. 149-161
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules present 8- to 10-m
er viral peptides to antiviral cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Identificati
on of the allele-specific peptide motifs (ASPMs) of class I molecules enabl
es the prediction of potential CTL epitopes of a virus from its protein seq
uences. Based on the bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) protein sequences that co
nform to the BoLA-A11 ASPM that we identified previously, potential CTL epi
topes of BHV-1 were synthesized for use in cytotoxicity assays with CTLs fr
om BHV-1-immunized calves, A peptide binding assay used to select the pepti
des that are most likely to be CTL epitopes categorized the peptides into g
roups of high, intermediate, and low binding capacity. Synthetic peptides s
timulated lymphocytes from BHV-1-immunized calves to secrete interferon-gam
ma, Groups of peptides from the major glycoproteins of BHV-1 restimulated C
TLs in vitro and sensitized targets for lysis by means of restimulated bulk
CTLs.