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Infection and Immunity, February 2000, p. 502-510, Vol. 68, No. 2
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

T-Cell Epitopes and Human Leukocyte Antigen Restriction Elements of an Immunodominant Antigen of Blastomyces dermatitidis

W. L. Chang,1 R. G. Audet,2 B. D. Aizenstein,2 L. H. Hogan,2 R. I. DeMars,3 and B. S. Klein2,4,5,*

Department of Internal Medicine, Louisiana State University Medical School, Shreveport, Louisiana 71103,1 and Departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology4 and Pediatrics,2 Laboratory of Genetics,3 and Comprehensive Cancer Center,5 University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin 53792

Received 14 July 1999/Returned for modification 16 August 1999/Accepted 28 October 1999

Humans infected with the dimorphic fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis develop strong T-lymphocyte responses to WI-1, an immunodominant antigen that has been shown to elicit protective immunity in mice. In the present study, the T-cell epitopes of WI-1 and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) restricting elements that display them were investigated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 37 patients with a confirmed history of blastomycosis were tested for a response to WI-1 in primary proliferation assays; PBMC from 35 (95%) responded. Six patients whose PBMC proliferated strongly in response to WI-1 (defined as a stimulation index greater than 50) were tested further for responses to subcloned, recombinant fragments of the antigen. These patients responded chiefly to sequences within the N terminus and the 25-amino-acid tandem repeat. Cloned CD4+ T cells from an infected individual were used to delineate more precisely the peptide epitopes in the fragments and HLA restricting elements that present them. A majority of the T-cell clones recognized an epitope spanning amino acids 149 to 172 within the N terminus, displayed by HLA-DR 15. A minority of the clones, which have been shown to perform a cytolytic function in vitro, recognized an epitope in the tandem repeat displayed by HLA-DPw4, an uncommon restricting element. Tandem repeat epitopes required display by the beta  chain of DPw4 heterodimers. Thus, human T cells with different functions in vitro also recognize distinct regions of WI-1, raising the possibility that HLA restricting elements that present them could modulate immunity during blastomycosis by selection and display of WI-1 peptides.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 Highland Ave., Rm. K4/434, Madison, WI 53792. Phone: (608) 263-9217. Fax: (608) 263-0440. E-mail: bsklein{at}facstaff.wisc.edu.


Infection and Immunity, February 2000, p. 502-510, Vol. 68, No. 2
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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