No T cell responses were observed to 10 of the confirmed HLA-C*12:02-binding NL4-3 peptides (or variant versions thereof present in our Japanese HIV-infected subjects) in 20 HLA-C*12:02+ HIV-infected individuals, suggesting that these peptides do not efficiently elicit robust priming of epitope-specific T cell responses during natural HIV-1 infection. Here, HLA-C is linked to HIV-1 infection.