Establishment and Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Envelope-Specific CD4+ T Lymphocyte Lines from HIV-I-Seropositive Patients

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp160-, gp120-, and tetanus toxoid-specific CD4 + T lymphocyte lines were developed from 11 HIV-1-seropositive volunteers enrolled in a vaccine therapy trial. Of the 20 HIV-1 envelope-specific T cell lines, 9 were challenged with a panel of overlapping peptides spanning the gp 120LAI sequence. The most frequently recognized regions were amino acids 74-105 in the C1 region and 306-328 in the V3 region. When tested against a panel of divergent HIV-I envelopes, 55% of the envelope-specific lines were able to recognize gpl20MN, while only 22% recognized gp120SF2. Cytotoxicity testing with HIV-I envelope antigen or peptides demonstrated killing by all 3 envelope-specific lines tested. Supernatants from 2 of 9 lines had high titers of p24 gag antigen, which did not seem to interfere with functional properties.