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Journal of Virology, April 2000, p. 3486-3493, Vol. 74, No. 8
Department of Immunology, St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital, Memphis,
Tennessee,1 and Emory Vaccine Center and
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of
Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia2
Received 16 November 1999/Accepted 18 January 2000
Respiratory challenge of H-2b mice with an
H3N2 influenza A virus causes an acute, transient pneumonitis
characterized by the massive infiltration of CD8+ T
lymphocytes. The inflammatory process monitored by quantitative analysis of lymphocyte populations recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage
is greatly enhanced by prior exposure to an H1N1 virus, with the recall
of cross-reactive CD8+-T-cell memory leading to more rapid
clearance of the infection from the lungs. The predominant epitope
recognized by the influenza virus-specific CD8+ set has
long been thought to be a nucleoprotein (NP366-374) presented by H-2Db (DbNP366). This
continues to be true for the secondary H3N2
0022-538X/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A Previously Unrecognized H-2Db-Restricted Peptide
Prominent in the Primary Influenza A Virus-Specific CD8+
T-Cell Response Is Much Less Apparent following Secondary
Challenge
H1N1 challenge but can no
longer be considered the case for the primary response to either virus.
Quantitative analysis based on intracellular staining for gamma
interferon has shown that the polymerase 2 protein
(PA224-233) provides a previously undetected epitope (DbPA224) that is at least as prominent as
DbNP366 during the first 10 days following
primary exposure to either the H3N2 or H1N1 virus. The response to
DbNP366 seems to continue for longer, even when
infectious virus can no longer be detected, but there is no obvious
difference in the prevalence of memory T cells specific for
DbNP366 and DbPA224.
The generalization that the magnitude of the functional memory T-cell
pool is a direct consequence of the clonal burst size during the
primary response may no longer be useful. Previous CD8+-T-cell immunodominance heirarchies defined largely by
cytotoxic T-lymphocyte assays may need to be revised.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 N. Lauderdale, Memphis, TN 38105. Phone: (901) 495-3470. Fax: (901) 495-3107. E-mail:
peter.doherty{at}stjude.org.
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