Low responder MHC alleles for Tc recognition of influenza nucleoprotein.

Since virus nucleoprotein is an important target antigen for anti-influenza cytotoxic T cells (Tc), we examined the genetics of Tc responses to this single viral protein to find three nonresponder alleles (Dd, Dk, and Kb) in three haplotypes and their recombinants so far tested. B10.A(5R) mice bearing nonresponder MHC class I antigen in the D and K regions show no anti-NP Tc responses, however they do show a strong A-virus cross-reactive anti-influenza cytotoxicity. The high frequency of nonresponsiveness to a single viral component, as compared with the entire virus, has implications for the development of simple vaccines.