HLA B*5701-Positive Long-Term Nonprogressors/Elite Controllers Are Not Distinguished from Progressors by the Clonal Composition of HIV-Specific CD8 ⁺ T Cells

Abstract

To better understand the qualitative features of effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific immunity, we examined the TCR clonal composition of CD8(+) T cells recognizing conserved HIV p24-derived epitopes in HLA-B*5701-positive long-term nonprogressors/elite controllers (LTNP/EC) and HLA-matched progressors. Both groups displayed oligoclonal HLA-B5701-restricted p24-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses with similar levels of diversity and few public clonotypes. Thus, HIV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses in LTNP/EC are not differentiated from those of progressors on the basis of clonal diversity or TCR sharing.