Sequence and peptide binding motif for a variant of HLA-A*0214 (A*02142) in an HIV-1-resistant individual from the Nairobi Sex Worker cohort

As part of the ongoing study of natural HIV-1 resistance in the women of th e Nairobi Sex Workers' study? we have examined a resistance-associated HLA class I allele at the molecular level. Typing by polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers determined that this molecule is closely re lated to HLA-A*0214, one of a family of HLA-A2 supertype alleles which corr elate with HIV-1 resistance in this population. Direct nucleotide sequencin g shows that this molecule differs from A*0214, having a silent nucleotide substitution. We therefore propose to designate it HLA-A*02142. We have det ermined the peptide-binding motif of HLA-A*0214/02142 by peptide elution an d bulk Edman degradative sequencing. The resulting motif, X-[Q,V] -X-X-X-K- X-X- [V,L], includes lysine as an anchor at position 6. The data complement available information on the peptide-binding characteristics of this molec ule, and will be of use in identifying antigenic peptides from HIV-1 and ot her pathogens.