Narrowed TCR diversity for immunised mice challenged with recombinant influenza A-HIV Env311-320 virus

Abstract

Understanding CD8+ T cell responses generated by live virus vectors is critical for the rational design of next generation HIV CTL-based vaccines. We used recombinant influenza viruses expressing the HIV Env311-320 peptide in the neuraminidase stalk to study response magnitude, cytokine production and repertoire diversity for the elicited CD8+ DdEnv311 CTL set. The insertion of the CD8+ DdEnv311 epitope into the NA stalk resulted in a decrease in viral fitness that was reflected in lower lung viral titres. While not affecting the magnitude of endogenous primary influenza-specific responses, the introduction of the DdEnv311 CD8+ T cell epitope altered the hierarchy of responses following seco..