Peptides (Figs. 4D, 4E). The CE-specific cytotoxic T cell responses (granzyme

two) together with the amount of the CE-specific CD8+ T cell responses in gag pDNA vaccinated macaques, supporting the notion of an association of CE responses and cytotoxicity. This locating, with each other with all the potent induction of cytotoxic T cell responses in all the p27CE pDNA vaccinated macaques, supports the conclusion that vaccination with p27CEThe Journal of ImmunologyFIGURE 2. Cellular responses in gag pDNA vaccinated macaques. (A) PBMC from rhesus macaques (n = 31) immunized with pDNA encoding the full-length SIV p57Gag protein had been Circos plot showing distant (trans) pQTLs and their relationships to analyzed by flow cytometry for Ag-specific responses targeting the full p27Gag (gray bars) protein or epitopes encoded by the CE (red bars). The values are plotted by decreasing p27Gag T cell responses and sorted as outlined by the presence (n = 18) or absence (n = 13) of CE responses. Of note, animals P516 and P517 have been analyzed using a peptide pool covering p39Gag that spans both the N terminal p19Gag as well as the p27Gag. (B) p27Gag-specific T cell responses were evaluated for their cytotoxic potential. 5): 1) booster vaccination with gag pDNA [by analogy to HIV CE pDNA prime-gag pDNA increase study (21)], and two)booster vaccination with codelivery of a mixture of CE+gag pDNA. To test the first concept, six SIV p27CE pDNA primed animals received a booster vaccination with gag pDNA just after a 2 mo rest (Fig. 5A), and have been analyzed on the day of vaccination, and two wk later (Fig. 5B). The gag pDNA booster vaccination increased the magnitude on the CE-specific responses drastically (p = 0.031, paired t test), reaching as much as 1.5 IFN-g+ T cells, keeping the distribution among the CD4 and CD8 T cell responses induced by CE priming (Fig. The SIV p27CE1 and p27CE2 proteins are composed of seven conserved elements (CE) derived from the p27Gag sequence, spanning 124 aa and collinearly arranged and separated by way of two aa linkers inside the order shown in the cartoon. The toggle amino acids in p27CE2 is indicated by an asterisk.Peptides (Figs. 4D, 4E). The CE-specific cytotoxic T cell responses (granzyme B+) have been compared with those induced by the subgroup of gag pDNA vaccinated animals, which showed optimistic CE responses (Fig. 2A). We located a significant raise (p = 0.018) within the frequency of CE-specific granzyme B+ T cells induced by the p27CE pDNA vaccine (Fig. 4F). We further noted that the gag pDNA vaccine induced a wider selection of cytotoxic CE-specific T cells than the p27CE vaccine. Interestingly, the frequency of cytotoxic CE-specific responses correlated (p = 0.002; Supplemental Fig. 2) using the level of the CE-specific CD8+ T cell responses in gag pDNA vaccinated macaques, supporting the notion of an association of CE responses and cytotoxicity. This discovering, with each other with all the potent induction of cytotoxic T cell responses in all the p27CE pDNA vaccinated macaques, supports the conclusion that vaccination with p27CEThe Journal of ImmunologyFIGURE 2. Cellular responses in gag pDNA vaccinated macaques. (A) PBMC from rhesus macaques (n = 31) immunized with pDNA encoding the full-length SIV p57Gag protein had been analyzed by flow cytometry for Ag-specific responses targeting the total p27Gag (gray bars) protein or epitopes encoded by the CE (red bars).