Figure 2

Detection of CTL activity against epitopes from BKV LTag domains among HLA-A*0201+ healthy donors. CD8+ T lymphocytes from five HLA-A*0201+ BKV LTag seropositive donors (B through F) were expanded in vitro for 3 weeks, upon weekly stimulation using autologous irradiated mDCs loaded with BKV LTag derived peptides selected by combining results from T2 binding and IFN-γ gene expression assays (≥ 2-fold, as compared to either irrelevant peptide or unstimulated cells). Cytotoxic activity was then tested against specific (squares) or control (diamonds) peptide-loaded targets. Specific cytotoxicity values at 50:1 E:T ratio are also included in each panel. An overview of specific lysis for all peptides tested in all BKV LTag seropositive responders at 50:1 E:T ratio is reported in the lower panel, where an arbitrary cut-off of 30% was applied.