Immunodominant CD8 T cell response to Epstein-Barr virus

• Published in: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy Vol. 55; no. 7; pp. 373 - 380
• Main Authors: Houssaint, E, Saulquin, X, Scotet, E, Bonneville, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Elsevier SAS 01.09.2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD8 T cell; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte - immunology; Epstein-Barr virus; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections - immunology; Herpesvirus 4, Human - immunology; Human viral diseases; Humans; immunodominance; Immunodominant Epitopes - immunology; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; CD8 T cell; Epstein-Barr virus; immunodominance; Gammaherpesvirinae; Virus; Human; Immune response; Antigenic determinant; Herpesviridae; T-Lymphocyte; Epstein Barr virus; Immunodominance; Cell subpopulation
• ISSN: 0753-3322; 1950-6007
• DOI: 10.1016/S0753-3322(01)00082-8

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) provides one of the most informative systems for analysing cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in humans. The viral infection and its persistence are the results of an alternation of lytic and latent phases that are controlled by the immune response. Using a transient COS transfection assay that permits semi-quantitative estimation of CD8 T cell responses against a large number of HLA/viral protein combinations, we analyzed responses to EBV within a large number of polyclonal T cell lines. This allowed a rapid identification of major epitopes and the demonstration that EBV-specific T cells were mainly directed against a restricted set of immunodominant epitopes, primarily generated during the early lytic cycle. Knowledge of the antigen specificity of CD8 T cell responses against EBV should help generate cytotoxic T cell lines to this herpesvirus, and more generally to study the molecular basis of immunodominance.