Recognition of nonstructural protein peptides by cytotoxic T lymphocytes raised against Japanese encephalitis virus.

We have previously reported that Lyt2+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) can be raised against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in BALB/c mice. In order to confirm the presence of H-2Kd-restricted CTL and to examine their cross-recognition of West Nile virus (WNV), we tested the capacity of anti-JEV CTL to lyse uninfected syngeneic target cells that were pulsed with synthetic peptides. The sequence of the synthetic peptides was predicted based upon the H-2Kd binding consensus motif. We show here that preincubation of uninfected syngeneic targets (P388D1) with JEV NS1- and NS3-derived peptides [NS1 (891-899) and NS3 (1804-1812)], but not with JEV NS5-derived peptide [NS5 (3370-3378)], partially sensitized them for lysis by polyclonal anti-JEV CTL. These results indicate the CTL recognition of NS1- and NS3-derived peptides of JEV.