Y. Sobao et al., Identification of hepatitis B virus-specific CTL epitopes presented by HLA-A*2402, the most common HLA class I allele in East Asia, J HEPATOL, 34(6), 2001, pp. 922-929
Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to identify and characterize hep
atitis B virus (HBV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes presen
ted by human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*2402, most common HLA class I allele
in East Asia.
Methods: HLA-A*2402-restricted CTL epitopes were identified by reverse immu
nogenetics. Immunogenecity of these epitopes was investigated using periphe
ral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) from HLA-A24(+) patients with acute hepat
itis B.
Results: An HLA-A*2402 stabilization assay demonstrated that 36 of 63 HBV p
eptides carrying HLA-A*2402 anchor residues have high- and medium-HLA-A*240
2 binding affinity. Two (C117-125 and P756-763) of the 36 peptides induced
peptide-specific CTLs, CTL clones and lines specific for these peptides kil
led HBV recombinant vaccinia virus-infected target cells expressing HLA-A*2
402, indicating that these two peptides are CTL epitopes presented by HLA-A
*2402, These two peptides were able to induce specific CTLs in 7 and 11 of
12 HLA-A24(+) patients with acute hepatitis B, respectively.
Conclusions: We identified two immunodominant CTL epitopes restricted by HL
A-A*2402, Because IILA-A*2402 is the most common allele in East Asia, a reg
ion in which there are approximately 200 million HBV carriers, these epitop
es will be useful for analysis of CTL responses in patients from East Asia.
(C) 2001 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Els
evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.