Figure 3
From: Identification of a novel conserved HLA-A*0201-restricted epitope from the spike protein of SARS-CoV
SARS-CoV S protein specific CTLs in DNA vaccine-immunized HLA-A2.1/Kb-Tg mice. Panel A, Specific cytolysis of CTLs induced by the candidate peptides in HLA-A2.1/Kb transgenic mice. Splenic single-cell suspensions from S/pVAX1-immunized mice were harvested and re-stimulated with peptide-pulsed mouse bone marrow-derived DCs in vitro to act as effector cells. The J(A2/kb) cells pulsed with peptides were used as targets. Cytotoxic activity was determined in a standard 51Cr release assay at the indicated E/T ratios. Panel B, Frequency of IFN-γ producing cells induced by the indicated SARS S-derived candidate peptides in HLA-A2.1/Kb transgenic mice. Bulk CTLs from immunized mice were co-cultured with autologous DCs in the presence of each peptide at a final concentration of 20 μg/ml. The secretion of peptide-specific IFN-γ was analyzed using ELISPOT assays. Results presented were from three independent experiments. Data is expressed as means ± SD. E/T ratio, effector cell to target cell ratio.