Differential induction of CD8+ T-cell proliferation according to Ag sensitivity. (A) Representative examples of CD8+ T-cell proliferation measured by dilution of CFSE fluorescence at 10−8M peptide for clones with higher (C2A) and lower (D8B) AgS levels. Cells were labeled with CFSE and then stimulated with KK10 peptide-loaded EBV-transformed HLA-B*2705+ B cells for 5 days. (B) Proliferation induced by 10−8M cognate peptide is plotted as a function of AgS (EC50 for Cr51 release). Each dot represents a distinct clone. Minimal proliferation was observed in the absence of exogenous cognate peptide. The correlation was determined using the Spearman rank test. (C) Proliferation (% of cells with diluted CFSE fluorescence) across a gradient of peptide concentrations for 10 different KK10-specific CD8+ T-cell clones with different AgS levels. *A significant correlation between AgS and proliferation at a given concentration of peptide.
