Identification of a WT1 protein‐derived peptide,WT1187, as a HLA‐A*0206‐restricted,WT1‐specific CTL epitope

The Wilms' tumor gene WT1 is overexpressed in various kinds of hematopoietic malignancies as well as solid cancers, and this protein has been demonstrated to be an attractive target antigen for cancer immunotherapy. WT1‐specific CTL epitopes with a restriction of HLA‐A*2402 or HLA‐A*0201 have been already identified. In the present study it has been demonstrated that a 9‐mer WT1‐derived WT1₁₈₇ peptide, which had already been shown to elicit a WT1‐specific CTL response with a restriction of HLA‐A*0201, can also elicit a CTL response with a restriction of HLA‐A*0206. In all three different HLA‐A*0206⁺ healthy donors examined, WT1₁₈₇ peptide‐specific CTL could be generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and the CTL showed cytotoxic activity that depended on dual expression of WT1 and HLA‐A*0206 molecules. The present study describes the first identification of a HLA‐A*0206‐restricted, WT1‐specific CTL epitope. The present results should help to broaden the application of WT1 peptide‐based immunotherapy from only HLA‐A*0201‐positive to HLA‐A*0206‐positive cancer patients as well.     

小鼠白细胞介素33真核表达质粒的构建及表达

克隆小鼠IL-33基因构建其真核表达质粒,并转染COS-7细胞检测其表达。提取C57BL/6小鼠肺组织总RNA,经反转录聚合酶链式反应（RT-PCR）扩增小鼠IL-33基因,酶切后插入pcDNA^TM3.1/myc HisA构建其真核表达质粒pcDNA-3.1-IL-33,重组质粒转染COS-7细胞,RT-PCR和免疫印迹法（western blotting）检测目的基因表达。结果显示,pcDNA3.1-IL-33中插入的片段序列测定结果与小鼠IL-33cDNA序列一致,重组质粒转染COS-7细胞后检测到相应mRNA及蛋白表达。成功克隆了小鼠IL-33基因cDNA,并构建其真核表达质粒。     

Human leukocyte antigen profile in HIV-1 infected individuals and AIDS patients from Chongqing, China

HIV/AIDS is currently the leading cause of infectious disease mortality around the world. Since many alleles and/or haplotypes of HLA have been reported to be associated with progressive HIV infection, more detailed information on the HLA profile in HIV‐1 infected individuals in Chongqing, southwest China would facilitate further understanding of HIV‐1 infection, help AIDS vaccine design and the planning of effective preventive strategies. In this study, we performed 4‐digit resolution HLA‐A, B, DRB1 genotyping of 759 HIV‐1 seropositive individuals using PCR‐SSO methods. Six alleles were found at more than 10% high frequency: A*1101, A*0201, A*2402, B*4601, B*4001 and DRB1*0901. The most common 2‐ and 3‐locus haplotypes were A*0201‐B*4601, A*1101‐B*4001, A*1101‐B*4601, A*3303/1‐B*5801, A*0201‐B*4601‐DRB1*0901, A*1101‐B*4601‐DRB1*0901 and A*3303/1‐B*5801‐DRB1*0301. 690 HIV‐1 seropositive individuals with records of CD4 counts were divided into two groups: an AIDS patient group comprising 216 subjects with AIDS‐defining symptoms and CD4 counts below 200 cells/mm³ and an asymptomatic, HIV seropositive group of 474 subjects with a stable CD4 count of no less than 200 individuals. In the AIDS patient group, A*3303/1 and B*5801 alleles and the A*3303/1‐B*5801 haplotype were significantly underrepresented as compared to the HIV‐infected group, whereas A*1101‐B*4001, A*1101‐B*1502, A*2402‐B*4801 haplotypes and five common haplotypes from two groups were significantly overrepresented. HLA‐A or B and HLA‐Bw6‐Bw6 homozygotes were also overrepresented in the AIDS patients group. Our observations suggest that the presence of the B*3501 allele, A*2402‐B*4801, common 2‐locus and 3‐locus haplotypes, HLA‐A or B and Bw6‐Bw6 homozygosity may predict a poor disease outcome in HIV‐1 infection. However, HIV‐1 infected individuals who have B*5801 alleles, A*3303/1‐B*5801 haplotype and are heterozygous for Bw4‐Bw6 are more likely to be resistant to progression of AIDS in this Chinese population.     

Rational design of a multiepitope vaccine encoding T-lymphocyte epitopes for treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infections

Protein sequences from multiple hepatitis B virus (HBV) isolates were analyzed for the presence of amino acid motifs characteristic of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) and helper T-lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes with the goal of identifying conserved epitopes suitable for use in a therapeutic vaccine. Specifically, sequences bearing HLA-A1, -A2, -A3, -A24, -B7, and -DR supertype binding motifs were identified, synthesized as peptides, and tested for binding to soluble HLA. The immunogenicity of peptides that bound with moderate to high affinity subsequently was assessed using HLA transgenic mice (CTL) and HLA cross-reacting H-2^bxd (BALB/c × C57BL/6J) mice (HTL). Through this process, 30 CTL and 16 HTL epitopes were selected as a set that would be the most useful for vaccine design, based on epitope conservation among HBV sequences and HLA-based predicted population coverage in diverse ethnic groups. A plasmid DNA-based vaccine encoding the epitopes as a single gene product, with each epitope separated by spacer residues to enhance appropriate epitope processing, was designed. Immunogenicity testing in mice demonstrated the induction of multiple CTL and HTL responses. Furthermore, as a complementary approach, mass spectrometry allowed the identification of correctly processed and major histocompatibility complex-presented epitopes from human cells transfected with the DNA plasmid. A heterologous prime-boost immunization with the plasmid DNA and a recombinant MVA gave further enhancement of the immune responses. Thus, a multiepitope therapeutic vaccine candidate capable of stimulating those cellular immune responses thought to be essential for controlling and clearing HBV infection was successfully designed and evaluated in vitro and in HLA transgenic mice.     

DNA vaccine with discontinuous T‐cell epitope insertions into HSP65 scaffold as a potential means to improve immunogenicity of multi‐epitope Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine

DNA‐based vaccine is a promising candidate for immunization and induction of a T‐cell‐focused protective immune response against infectious pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb). To induce multi‐functional T response against multi‐TB antigens, a multi‐epitope DNA vaccine and a ‘protein backbone grafting’ design method is adopted to graft five discontinuous T‐cell epitopes into HSP65 scaffold protein of M. tb for enhancement of epitope processing and immune presentation. A DNA plasmid with five T‐cell epitopes derived from ESAT‐6, Ag85B, MTB10.4, PPE25 and PE19 proteins of H37Rv strain of M. tb genetically inserted into HSP65 backbone was constructed and designated as pPES. After confirmation of its in vitro expression efficiency, pPES DNA was i.m. injected into C57BL/6 mice with four doses of 50 µg DNA followed by mycobacterial challenge 4 weeks after the final immunization. It was found that pPES DNA injection maintained the ability of HSP65 backbone to induce specific serum IgG. ELISPOT assay demonstrated that pPES epitope‐scaffold construct was significantly more potent to induce IFN‐γ⁺ T response to five T‐cell epitope proteins than other DNA constructs (with epitopes alone or with epitope series connected to HSP65), especially in multi‐functional‐CD4⁺ T response. It also enhanced granzyme B⁺ CTL and IL‐2⁺ CD8⁺ T response. Furthermore, significantly improved protection against Mycobacterium bovis BCG challenge was achieved by pPES injection compared to other DNA constructs. Taken together, HSP65 scaffold grafting strategy for multi‐epitope DNA vaccine represents a successful example of rational protein backbone engineering design and could prove useful in TB vaccine design.     

The diagnostic potential of MPT63‐derived HLA‐A*0201‐restricted CD8+T‐cell epitopes for active pulmonary tuberculosis

MPT63 protein is found only in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, including M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. Detection of MPT63‐specific IFN‐γ‐secreting T cells could be useful for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) diseases. In the present study, the HLA‐A*0201 restriction of ten predicted MPT63‐derived CD8 ⁺ T‐cell epitopes was assessed on the basis of T2 cell line and HLA‐A*0201 transgenic mice. The diagnostic potential of immunogenic peptides in active pulmonary TB patients was evaluated using an IFN‐γ enzyme‐linked immunospot assay. It was found that five peptides bound to HLA‐A*0201 with high affinity, whereas the remaining peptides exhibited low affinity for HLA‐A*0201. Five immunogenic peptides (MPT63_18–26, MPT63_29–37, MPT63_20–28, MPT63_5–14 and MPT63_10–19) elicited large numbers of cytotoxic IFN‐γ‐secreting T cells in HLA‐A*0201 transgenic mice. Each of the five immunogenic peptides was recognized by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 45% to 73% of 40 HLA‐A*0201 positive TB patients. The total diagnostic sensitivity of the five immunogenic peptides was higher than that of a T‐SPOT.TB assay (based on ESAT‐6 and CFP‐10) (93% versus 90%). It is noticeable that the diagnostic sensitivity of the combination of five immunogenic peptides and T‐SPOT.TB assay reached 100%. These MPT63‐derived HLA‐A*0201‐restricted CD8 ⁺ T‐cell epitopes would likely contribute to the immunological diagnosis of M. tuberculosis infection and may provide the components for designing an effective TB vaccine.     

Promiscuous CTL recognition of viral epitopes on multiple human leukocyte antigens: biological validation of the proposed HLA A24 supertype

Multiple HLA class I alleles can bind peptides with common sequence motifs due to structural similarities in the peptide binding cleft, and these groups of alleles have been classified into supertypes. Nine major HLA supertypes have been proposed, including an A24 supertype that includes A*2301, A*2402, and A*3001. Evidence for this A24 supertype is limited to HLA sequence homology and/or similarity in peptide binding motifs for the alleles. To investigate the immunological relevance of this proposed supertype, we have examined two viral epitopes (from EBV and CMV) initially defined as HLA-A*2301-binding peptides. The data clearly demonstrate that each peptide could be recognized by CTL clones in the context of A*2301 or A*2402; thus validating the inclusion of these three alleles within an A24 supertype. Furthermore, CTL responses to the EBV epitope were detectable in both A*2301(+) and A*2402(+) individuals who had been previously exposed to this virus. These data substantiate the biological relevance of the A24 supertype, and the identification of viral epitopes with the capacity to bind promiscuously across this supertype could aid efforts to develop CTL-based vaccines or immunotherapy. The degeneracy in HLA restriction displayed by some T cells in this study also suggests that the dogma of self-MHC restriction needs some refinement to accommodate foreign peptide recognition in the context of multiple supertype alleles.     

Construction and immunogenicity prediction of Plasmodium falciparum CTL epitope minigene vaccine

The minigenes encoding Plasmodiumfalciparum CTL epitopes restricted to human MHC class I molecular HLA-A2 and HLA-B51, which were both at high frequency among Chinese population, were constructed as mono-epitope CTL vaccines named pcDNA3.1/tr and pcDNA3.1/sh. The minigenes of the two epitopes were then tandem linked to form a dimeric CTL epitope minigene recombinant vaccine. After DNA transfection, the epitope minigenes were expressed respectively in two human cell lines, each bearing one MHC class I molecule named CIR/HLA-A2.1 and K562/HLA-B51. The intracellular expression of the CTL epitope minigenes not only enhanced the stability of HLA-A2.1 and HLA-B51 molecules but also increased the assemblage of MHC class I molecules on cell surfaces, which testified the specific process and presentation of those endogenous expressed epitopes. For the cells transfected with the dimeric minigene encoding two tandem linked epitopes, the expression and presentation of each epitope were also detected on cell membranes that bore different MHC class I molecules. It meant that the adjacency of the two CTL epitopes did not interfere with the specific process and presentation of each epitope. Compared with the ordinary CTL studies that inoculated synthesized epitope peptides with peripheral blood cells, this work aimed to process the epitopes directly inside HLA class I allele specific human cells, and thus theoretically imitated the same procedurein vivo. It was also an economical way to predict the immunogenicity of CTL epitopes at an early stage especially in laboratories with limited financial resource.     

Insights into HLA-restricted T cell responses in a novel mouse model of dengue virus infection point toward new implications for vaccine design

The frequency of dengue virus (DENV) infection has increased dramatically in the last few decades, and the lack of a vaccine has led to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. To date, a convenient murine system to study human T cell responses to DENV has not been available. Mice transgenic for HLA are widely used to model human immune responses, and it has been shown that mouse-passaged DENV is able to replicate to significant levels in IFN-α/βR(-/-) mice. To cover a wide range of HLA phenotypes, we backcrossed IFN-α/βR(-/-) mice with HLA A*0201, A*0101, A*1101, B*0702, and DRB1*0101-transgenic mice. A DENV proteome-wide screen identified a total of 42 epitopes across all HLA-transgenic IFN-α/βR(-/-) strains tested. In contrast, only eight of these elicited responses in the corresponding IFN-α/βR(+/+) mice. We were able to identify T cell epitopes from 9 out of the 10 DENV proteins. However, the majority of responses were derived from the highly conserved nonstructural proteins NS3 and NS5. The relevance of this model is further demonstrated by the fact that most of the epitopes identified in our murine system are also recognized by PBMC from DENV-exposed human donors, and a dominance of HLA B*0702-restricted responses has been detected in both systems. Our results provide new insights into HLA-restricted T cell responses against DENV, and we describe in this study a novel murine model that allows the investigation of T cell-mediated immune mechanisms relevant to vaccine design.     

Identification of HLA‐A*11:01‐restricted Mycobacterium tuberculosis CD8+ T cell epitopes

New vaccines are needed to combat Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infections. The currently employed Bacillus Calmette‐Guérin vaccine is becoming ineffective, due in part to the emergence of multidrug‐resistant tuberculosis (MDR‐TB) strains and the reduced immune capacity in cases of HIV coinfection. CD8⁺ T cells play an important role in the protective immunity against MTB infections, and the identification of immunogenic CD8⁺ T cell epitopes specific for MTB is essential for the design of peptide‐based vaccines. To identify CD8⁺ T cell epitopes of MTB proteins, we screened a set of 94 MTB antigens for HLA class I A*11:01‐binding motifs. HLA‐A*11:01 is one of the most prevalent HLA molecules in Southeast Asians, and definition of T cell epitopes it can restrict would provide significant coverage for the Asian population. Peptides that bound with high affinity to purified HLA molecules were subsequently evaluated in functional assays to detect interferon‐γ release and CD8⁺ T cell proliferation in active pulmonary TB patients. We identified six novel epitopes, each derived from a unique MTB antigen, which were recognized by CD8⁺ T cells from active pulmonary TB patients. In addition, a significant level of epitope‐specific T cells could be detected ex vivo in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from active TB patients by an HLA‐A*11:01 dextramer carrying the peptide Rv3130c_194‐204 (from the MTB triacylglycerol synthase Tgs1), which was the most frequently recognized epitope in our peptide library. In conclusion, this study identified six dominant CD8⁺ T cell epitopes that may be considered potential targets for subunit vaccines or diagnostic strategies against TB.     

Identification of Conserved and HLA Promiscuous DENV3 T-Cell Epitopes

Anti-dengue T-cell responses have been implicated in both protection and immunopathology. However, most of the T-cell studies for dengue include few epitopes, with limited knowledge of their inter-serotype variation and the breadth of their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) affinity. In order to expand our knowledge of HLA-restricted dengue epitopes, we screened T-cell responses against 477 overlapping peptides derived from structural and non-structural proteins of the dengue virus serotype 3 (DENV3) by use of HLA class I and II transgenic mice (TgM): A2, A24, B7, DR2, DR3 and DR4. TgM were inoculated with peptides pools and the T-cell immunogenic peptides were identified by ELISPOT. Nine HLA class I and 97 HLA class II novel DENV3 epitopes were identified based on immunogenicity in TgM and their HLA affinity was further confirmed by binding assays analysis. A subset of these epitopes activated memory T-cells from DENV3 immune volunteers and was also capable of priming naïve T-cells, ex vivo, from dengue IgG negative individuals. Analysis of inter- and intra-serotype variation of such an epitope (A02-restricted) allowed us to identify altered peptide ligands not only in DENV3 but also in other DENV serotypes. These studies also characterized the HLA promiscuity of 23 HLA class II epitopes bearing highly conserved sequences, six of which could bind to more than 10 different HLA molecules representing a large percentage of the global population. These epitope data are invaluable to investigate the role of T-cells in dengue immunity/pathogenesis and vaccine design.     

A Conserved E7-derived Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Epitope Expressed on Human Papillomavirus 16-transformed HLA-A2+ Epithelial Cancers

Human Papillomavirus 16 (HPV-16) has been identified as the causative agent of 50% of cervical cancers and many other HPV-associated tumors. The transforming potential/tumor maintenance capacity of this high risk HPV is mediated by two viral oncoproteins, E6 and E7, making them attractive targets for therapeutic vaccines. Of 21 E6 and E7 peptides computed to bind HLA-A*0201, 10 were confirmed through TAP-deficient T2 cell HLA stabilization assay. Those scoring positive were investigated to ascertain which were naturally processed and presented by surface HLA molecules for CTL recognition. Because IFNγ ELISpot frequencies from healthy HPV-exposed blood donors against HLA-A*0201-binding peptides were unable to identify specificities for tumor targeting, their physical presence among peptides eluted from HPV-16-transformed epithelial tumor HLA-A*0201 immunoprecipitates was analyzed by MS³ Poisson detection mass spectrometry. Only one epitope (E7_11–19) highly conserved among HPV-16 strains was detected. This 9-mer serves to direct cytolysis by T cell lines, whereas a related 10-mer (E7_11–20), previously used as a vaccine candidate, was neither detected by MS³ on HPV-transformed tumor cells nor effectively recognized by 9-mer specific CTL. These data underscore the importance of precisely defining CTL epitopes on tumor cells and offer a paradigm for T cell-based vaccine design.     

Immunogenicity of a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Polytope Vaccine Containing Multiple HLA A2 HIV CD8+ Cytotoxic T-Cell Epitopes

Compelling evidence now suggests that alphabeta CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) have an important role in preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and/or slowing progression to AIDS. Here, we describe an HIV type 1 CTL polyepitope, or polytope, vaccine comprising seven contiguous minimal HLA A2-restricted CD8 CTL epitopes conjoined in a single artificial construct. Epitope-specific CTL lines derived from HIV-infected individuals were able to recognize every epitope within the construct, and HLA A2-transgenic mice immunized with a recombinant virus vaccine coding for the HIV polytope also generated CTL specific for different epitopes. Each epitope in the polytope construct was therefore processed and presented, illustrating the feasibility of the polytope approach for HIV vaccine design. By simultaneously inducing CTL specific for different epitopes, an HIV polytope vaccine might generate activity against multiple challenge isolates and/or preempt the formation of CTL escape mutants.     

The Effect of HLA Polymorphisms on the Recognition of Gag Epitopes in HIV-1 CRF01_AE Infection

Introduction

The design of a globally effective vaccine rests on the identification of epitopes capable of eliciting effective cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses across multiple HIV clades in different populations. This study aims to discern the effect of HLA polymorphisms and the cross-clade reactivity or clade-specificity of epitopes in Thailand where HIV-1 CRF01_AE is circulating.

Materials and Methods

14 peptides based on consensus HIV-1 CRF01_AE amino acid sequences were designed for use in IFN-γ ELISpot assays and ⁵¹Cr release assays among 66 HIV-1 CRF01_AE-infected Thai patients. For ELISpot responders carrying HLA alleles currently unknown to restrict CRF01_AE epitopes, in silico epitope-HLA prediction was performed.

Results

29/66 (43.9%) patients recognized at least one peptide. In total 79 responses were seen against all 14 peptides. 28/79 (35.4%) of the responses were in patients with HLA alleles previously reported to restrict CRF01_AE epitopes, 24/79 (30.4%) responses were in individuals with HLA alleles previously reported to restrict epitopes of HIV clades other than CRF01_AE, and the remaining 27/79 (34.2%) responses were not associated with HLA alleles previously known to restrict HIV epitopes. In silico epitope prediction detected 19 novel, epitope-HLA combinations, and 11/19 (57.9%) were associated with HLA-C alleles. We further confirmed a novel HLA restriction of a previously identified HIV-1 Gag epitope [p24_122–130: PPIPVGDIY (PY9)] by HLA-B*40:01 with a standard ⁵¹Cr release assay.

Discussion

CTL recognition sites in HIV-1 Gag were similar among different clades but the HLA restriction differed in Thai patients. This disparity in HLA restriction along different populations illustrated the importance of clade- and population-specific HLA analysis prior to CTL vaccine design.     

Full length antigen priming enhances the CTL epitope-based DNA vaccine efficacy

Although CD8⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitope-based DNA vaccination is valuable experience on vaccine research but many attempts are still continued to achieve acceptable protective response. To study the role of full length antigen in CTL epitope immunization, we evaluated cellular immunity of diverse patterns of complete Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein B (gB) and the immunodominant CTL epitope (498–505) DNA injection in C57BL/6 mice. Optimal immune response was observed in the group immunized with the full length of gB in the first injection and CTL epitope in the second and third vaccination as assessed by lymphocyte proliferation assay (MTT), cytokine assay (ELISA) and CTL assay. B cell and spatially CD4⁺ T cell epitopes in full length protein might be important for appropriate priming of CTL immune response. These findings may have important implication for the improvement of CTL epitope based DNA vaccine against HSV and other pathogens.     

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I restricted epitope discovery in yellow fewer and dengue viruses: importance of HLA binding strength

Epitopes from all available full-length sequences of yellow fever virus (YFV) and dengue fever virus (DENV) restricted by Human Leukocyte Antigen class I (HLA-I) alleles covering 12 HLA-I supertypes were predicted using the NetCTL algorithm. A subset of 179 predicted YFV and 158 predicted DENV epitopes were selected using the EpiSelect algorithm to allow for optimal coverage of viral strains. The selected predicted epitopes were synthesized and approximately 75% were found to bind the predicted restricting HLA molecule with an affinity, K(D), stronger than 500 nM. The immunogenicity of 25 HLA-A*02:01, 28 HLA-A*24:02 and 28 HLA-B*07:02 binding peptides was tested in three HLA-transgenic mice models and led to the identification of 17 HLA-A*02:01, 4 HLA-A*2402 and 4 HLA-B*07:02 immunogenic peptides. The immunogenic peptides bound HLA significantly stronger than the non-immunogenic peptides. All except one of the immunogenic peptides had K(D) below 100 nM and the peptides with K(D) below 5 nM were more likely to be immunogenic. In addition, all the immunogenic peptides that were identified as having a high functional avidity had K(D) below 20 nM. A*02:01 transgenic mice were also inoculated twice with the 17DD YFV vaccine strain. Three of the YFV A*02:01 restricted peptides activated T-cells from the infected mice in vitro. All three peptides that elicited responses had an HLA binding affinity of 2 nM or less. The results indicate the importance of the strength of HLA binding in shaping the immune response.     

Construction and immunogenicity prediction of Plasmodiumfalciparum CTL epitope minigene vaccine

The minigenes encoding Plasmodium falciparum CTL epitopes restricted to human MHC class I molecular HLA-A2 and HLA-B51, which were both at high frequency among Chinese population, were constructed as mono-epitope CTL vaccines named pcDNA3.1/frand pcDNA3.1/ sh. The minigenes of the two epitopes were then tandem linked to form a dimeric CTL epitope minigene recombinant vaccine. After DNA transfection, the epitope minigenes were expressed respectively in two human cell lines, each bearing one MHC class I molecule named CIR/HLA-A2.1 and K562/HLA-B51. The intraceliular expression of the CTL epitope minigenes not only enhanced the stability of HLA-A2.1 and HLA-B51 molecules but also increased the assemblage of MHC class I molecules on cell surfaces, which testified the specific process and presentation of those endogenous expressed epitopes. For the cells transfected with the dimeric minigene encoding two tandem linked epitopes, the expression and presentation of each epitope were also detected on cell membran     

A long peptide from MELOE-1 contains multiple HLA class II T cell epitopes in addition to the HLA-A*0201 epitope: an attractive candidate for melanoma vaccination

CD4⁺ T cells contribute importantly to the antitumor T cell response, and thus, long peptides comprising CD4 and CD8 epitopes may be efficient cancer vaccines. We have previously identified an overexpressed antigen in melanoma, MELOE-1, presenting a CD8⁺ T cell epitope, MELOE-1_36–44, in the HLA-A*0201 context. A T cell repertoire against this epitope is present in HLA-A*0201+ healthy subjects and melanoma patients and the adjuvant injection of TIL containing MELOE-1 specific CD8⁺ T cells to melanoma patients was shown to be beneficial. In this study, we looked for CD4⁺ T cell epitopes in the vicinity of the HLA-A*0201 epitope. Stimulation of PBMC from healthy subjects with MELOE-1_26–46 revealed CD4 responses in multiple HLA contexts and by cloning responsive CD4⁺ T cells, we identified one HLA-DRβ1*1101-restricted and one HLA-DQβ1*0603-restricted epitope. We showed that the two epitopes could be efficiently presented to CD4⁺ T cells by MELOE-1-loaded dendritic cells but not by MELOE-1+ melanoma cell-lines. Finally, we showed that the long peptide MELOE-1_22–46, containing the two optimal class II epitopes and the HLA-A*0201 epitope, was efficiently processed by DC to stimulate CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses in vitro, making it a potential candidate for melanoma vaccination.     

A WT1 protein‐derived,naturally processed 16‐mer peptide,WT1332, is a promiscuous helper peptide for induction of WT1‐specific Th1‐type CD4+ T cells

The Wilms' tumor gene WT1 is overexpressed in various tumors, and the WT1 protein has been demonstrated to be an attractive target antigen for cancer immunotherapy. A WT1 protein‐derived 16‐mer peptide, WT1₃₃₂ (KRYFKLSHLQMHSRKH), which was naturally generated through processing in cells and could elicit Th1‐type CD4⁺ helper T cell responses with an HLA‐DRB1*0405‐restriction has previously been identified by us. In the present study, it has been demonstrated that WT1₃₃₂ can induce WT1₃₃₂‐specific CD4⁺ T cell responses with the restriction of not only HLA‐DRB1*0405 but also HLA‐DRB1*1501, ‐DRB1*1502, or ‐DPB1*0901. These HLA class II‐restricted WT1₃₃₂‐specific CD4⁺ T cell lines produced IFN‐γ but neither IL‐4 nor IL‐10 with WT1₃₃₂ stimulation, thus showing a Th1‐type cytokine profile. Furthermore, HLA‐DRB1*1501 or ‐DRB1*1502‐restricted WT1₃₃₂‐specific CD4⁺ T cell lines responded to WT1‐expressing transformed cells in an HLA‐DRB1‐restricted manner, which is consistent with our previous finding that WT1₃₃₂ is a naturally processed peptide. These results indicate that the natural peptide, WT1₃₃₂, is a promiscuous WT1‐specific helper epitope. WT1₃₃₂ is expected to apply to cancer patients with various types of HLA class II as a WT1‐specific helper peptide in combination with HLA class I‐restricted WT1 peptides.