Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes recognize a fragment of influenza virus matrix protein in association with HLA-A2

Nature volume 326, pages 881–882 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

Both human and murine cytotoxic T cells (CTL) elicited in response to infection with influenza A viruses have been shown to be specific for internal viral proteins, such as the matrix and nucleoprotein1–3. Individual CTL epitopes have been identified in the nucleoprotein by successfully substituting short synthetic peptides for the intact virus in the preparation of target cells in cytotoxicity assays4. The defined peptide epitopes have each been recognized by CTL in association with individual class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins, H–2Db (ref. 4), H–2Kk (ref. 5), H–2Kd (Taylor, P. et al., unpublished data) and HLA-B37 (refs 4,6). A logical strategy to investigate the molecular details of the interaction between antigen and MHC class I proteins would be to define an epitope recognized by the MHC class I molecule HLA-A2. This is because the amino-acid sequence is known, several variants of A2 have been characterized and the protein has been purified and crystallized7–11. Here we describe a peptide derived from the influenza matrix protein that is recognized by human CTL in association with the HLA-A2 molecule.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Townsend, A. R. M. & Skehel, J. J. J. exp. Med 160, 552–563 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Yewdell, J. W., Bennink, J. R., Smith, G. L. & Moss, B. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82, 1785–1789 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Gotch, F. M., McMichael, A. J., Smith, G. L. & Moss, B. J. exp. Med. 165, 408–416 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Townsend, A. R. M. et al. Cell 44, 959–968 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Bastin, J. M., Rothbard, J., Davey, J. & Townsend, A. R. M. J. exp. Med. (in the press).

  6. McMichael, A. J., Gotch, F. M. & Rothbard, J. J. exp. Med. 164, 1397–1406 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lopez de Castro, J. A., Strominger, J. L., Strong, D. M. & Orr, H. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 3813–3817 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Krangel, M. S., Taketani, S., Biddison, W. E., Strong, D. M. & Strominger, J. L. Biochemistry 21, 6313–6321 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Koller, B. H. & Orr, H. T. J. Immun. 134, 2727–2733 (1985).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Taketani, S. M., Krangel, M. S., Pious, D. & Strominger, J. L. J. Immun. 131, 2935–2938 (1983).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Bjorkman, P. J., Strominger, J. L. & Wiley, D. C. J. molec. Biol. 186, 205–210 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Rothbard, J. B. & Taylor, W. Nature (submitted).

  13. Winter, G. & Fields, S. Nucleic Acids Res. 8, 1965–1974 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Gotch, F. M. et al. Immunogenetics 21, 11–23 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Babbitt, B. P., Allen, P. M., Matsueda, G., Haber, E. & Unanue, E. R. Nature 317, 359–361 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Watts, T. H., Gaub, H. E. & McConnell, H. M. Nature 320, 179–181 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Buus, S. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 3968–3971 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Buus, S., Sette, A., Colon, S. M., Jenis, D. M. & Grey, H. M. Cell 47, 1071–1077 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Frances Gotch, Alain Townsend & Andrew McMichael

  2. Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC1, UK

    Jonathan Rothbard & Kevin Howland

Authors
  1. Frances Gotch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jonathan Rothbard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kevin Howland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alain Townsend
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Andrew McMichael
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gotch, F., Rothbard, J., Howland, K. et al. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes recognize a fragment of influenza virus matrix protein in association with HLA-A2. Nature 326, 881–882 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/326881a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/326881a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing