Abstract
Based on our findings that the immunosuppressive peptide (ISP, amino acids (aa) 583-599) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp41 shows sequence-similarity with human type I interferons (IFN-α and IFN-β) and HIV-1 soluble gp41 (sgp41, aa 539-684) enhanced cell surface expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecule on human H9 (T cells), Raji (B cells) and U937 (monocytic cells) cells, we examined the effect of HIV-1 immunosuppressive peptide on the surface expression of MHC class I molecules on H9 and U937 cells. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that ISP-BSA (conjugate) could enhance MHC class I expression by about 40% on H9 cells and by about 45% on U937 cells, while monomer ISP (not conjugated) and EDCI-treated carrier protein (BSA-EDCI) did not increase the expression. By comparison, human type I interferons, IFN-α and IFN-β, showed similar effects (enhanced the expression by about 40-60%) to ISP-BSA on the MHC class I expression on H9 and U937 cells. The results suggest that HIV-1 gp41 in a polymerized form by its immunosuppressive domain upregulates human MHC class I expression. The basis for this similar effect of HIV-1 gp41 and IFN-α and -β, i.e. upregulation of MHC class I molecule expression, may be based on the sequence-similarity between these otherwise different molecules.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 93-97 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Immunology Letters |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1997 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Immunosuppressive peptide
- MHC expression
- Regulation
- Sequence-similarity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology