Recognition of disparate HA and NS1 peptides by an H-2K^d-restricted, influenza specific CTL clone

CTLs (CD8⁺) are known to recognize exogenous peptide in the context of class I MHC molecules. We observed that an influenza subtype H1 and H2 cross-reactive CTL clone B7, which was stimulated by a fusion protein containing a portion of HA2 subunit of A/PR/8 virus HA, recognized a synthetic peptide (residues 515-526) of the HA2 subunit of A/PR/8 virus strain. This CTL clone also recognized a structurally disparate NS1 peptide 50-68 of the same A/PR/8 virus. We examined the recognition of the NS1 peptide 50-68 and the HA peptide 515-526 by the subcloned CTL clone, B7-B7. Cold target inhibition experiments showed that the recognition of the HA peptide by the CTL clone B7-B7 could be competed by NS1 peptide-treated target cells and vice versa. The recognition of both NS1 peptide and HA peptide by the CTL clone B7-B7 was restricted by the same allele, H2K^d. In addition, this NS1 peptide requires approximately a 600-fold higher concn for optimal CTL recognition than did the HA peptide. We conclude that the TCR on clone B7-B7 recognizes the HA peptide or the NS1 peptide as comparable complexes with the same class I MHC molecules, although there is no obvious homology in the primary sequences of HA 515-526 and NS1 50-68 peptides. CTLs elicited with certain antigens appear to recognize distinctively different antigens complexed to the same presenting MHC molecule.