P16-39. T cell recognition of autologous and non-autologous HIV-1 protease peptides by HIV-1 infected patients undergoing PI therapy

Methods Seventy-two HIV-1+ patients undergoing protease inhibitor (PI) therapy were recruited. We synthesized three peptides from HXB2 strain protease (wild-type) and 32 additional peptides from the same regions, which encompassed the most frequent PI-induced mutations in Brazil. PBMC from those patients were analyzed by the CFSE dilution assay to detect proliferating CD4+ and/or CD8+ T cell responses against each of the 35 protease peptides. Pol protease HIV-1 genomic regions were sequenced using internal primers with the ABI Prism Dye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Reaction Kit in an automated sequencer.