Potential CTL reactivity against archived viral epitopes according to HLA I alleles: cross-reactivity to Lipo 5 peptides.

Lipo 5 peptides are located in the viral genome and were designed from the HXB2 reference; according to the HLA alleles, we investigated the predicted reactivity against the corresponding epitopes or variants of these epitopes in archived proviral DNA. The MHC IC 50 values provide an estimation of the cross-reactivity between the epitope and the variant. For example, patient G with allele HLA-A*03:01 has archived a variant epitope that is poorly recognized. It is highly doubtful that the corresponding lipopeptide Gag 17–35 HXB2 vaccine lipopeptide will be useful for cross-stimulation.