HIV-1 epitopes presented by MHC class I types associated with superior immune containment of viremia have highly constrained fitness landscapes
Fig 7
Confirmation that ΔRE values reflect potential for escape from CTLs.
Clonal HIV-1NL4-3 with five SL9 epitope variants with increased (1.39–1.66 and 1.37–2.32 for CTL clones 3.23T and 10.11T respectively), one variant with decreased (-1.42 and -1.43 with CTL clones 3.23T and 10.11T respectively) ΔRE, and the subtype B consensus epitope were individually tested for susceptibility for suppression by CTLs. T1 cells were acutely infected and cultured in the presence or absence of CTL clones 3.23T or 10.11T; supernatant p24 antigen values after 7 days are plotted for each indicated variant. Each value is the mean of triplicates, and error bars represent standard deviations.