Cytotoxic T lymphocyte recognition of hybrid MHC class I molecules

We have utilized a group of MHC class I genes produced by in vitro recombination between Dp and Dd to study recognition of MHC class I molecules by cytolytic T cells (CTLs). Both polyclonal allo-specific and H-2-restricted CTLs require that alpha 1 and alpha 2 of the target class I molecule be derived from the same haplotype for efficient killing. By using T-cell lines we showed that within the bulk population there must exist a fraction of T cells which can recognize epitopes in alpha 1 or alpha 2. Critical residues for T-cell recognition have been identified using these chimeric genes.