Identification and characterization of a novel NY-ESO-1 T_CD8+ epitope.

<p><i>A</i>. PBMCs were collected from patient 8 on day 70 following vaccination with NY-ESO-1 ISCOMATRIX™ vaccine. These cells were cultured with a panel of overlapping NY-ESO-1 18 mer peptides and then tested for responsiveness to each peptide in an ICS assay for IFN-γ. Because the background to control peptides was negligible, the results from individual cultures were plotted as a single combined figure. <i>B, C</i>, T_CD8+ line expanded with NY-ESO-1_79–96 18 mer was tested under FCS-free condition for its reactivity to various HPLC-purified peptides (B) and the minimum peptide NY-ESO-1_88–96 at various peptide concentrations (<i>C)</i>. <i>D</i>, a panel of LCL lines sharing HLA alleles with patient 8 were pulsed with the minimum NY-ESO-1_88–96 peptide, extensively washed, co-cultured with NY-ESO-1_88–96-specific T_CD8+ line and followed with ICS.