Frequency and functional analysis of variants of the immunodominant epitope NS3–1073: Relevance for vaccine design

Introduction: The HCV-specific HLA-A2-restricted NS3–1073 epitope is one of the most frequently recognized in hepatitis C. Responses against NS3–1073 have been associated with clearance of acute HCV-infection. Therefore this epitope is an interesting candidate for a HCV-peptide vaccine. However, heterogeneity between genotypes and mutations in the epitope has to be considered as an obstacle. Even if cross-reactivity is common, small changes between peptide variants can have detrimental effects. Methods: We investigated the sequence variability within NS-1073 across HCV-genotypes, and determined the cross-reactiv…