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Infection and Immunity, February 2000, p. 502-510, Vol. 68, No. 2
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
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
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.
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