1. Human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type-1-specific CD8+ T cells: frequency and immunodominance hierarchy.
- Author
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Goon PK, Biancardi A, Fast N, Igakura T, Hanon E, Mosley AJ, Asquith B, Gould KG, Marshall S, Taylor GP, and Bangham CR
- Subjects
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte immunology, HTLV-I Infections immunology, HTLV-I Infections virology, Humans, Interferon-gamma biosynthesis, Peptides immunology, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes immunology, Carrier State immunology, Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 immunology, Immunodominant Epitopes immunology, Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic immunology
- Abstract
Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). We used interferon- gamma enzyme-linked immunospot assays with overlapping peptides spanning the entire HTLV-1 proteome to test whether the HTLV-1-specific CD8(+) T cells differed significantly in frequency or immunodominance hierarchy between patients with HAM/TSP and asymptomatic carriers and whether the frequency correlated with provirus load. Tax was the immunodominant target antigen. There was no significant qualitative or quantitative difference in the HTLV-1-specific CD8(+) T cell response between the 2 groups. Virus-specific CD8(+) T cell frequency alone does not indicate the effectiveness of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte response in controlling provirus load at equilibrium.
- Published
- 2004
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