This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chen, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Koralnik, I. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chen, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Koralnik, I. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Virology, April 2006, p. 3495-3505, Vol. 80, No. 7
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.80.7.3495-3505.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Interplay of Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses against BK Virus in Kidney Transplant Recipients with Polyomavirus Nephropathy

Yiping Chen,1 Jennifer Trofe,2,{dagger} Jennifer Gordon,3 Renaud A. Du Pasquier,1,4,{ddagger} Prabir Roy-Chaudhury,2 Marcelo J. Kuroda,1,§ E. Steve Woodle,2 Kamel Khalili,3 and Igor J. Koralnik1,4*

Division of Viral Pathogenesis,1 Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts,4 Division of Transplantation, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio,2 Center for Neurovirology and Department of Neuroscience, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania3

Received 7 November 2005/ Accepted 13 January 2006

Reactivation of the polyomavirus BK (BKV) causes polyomavirus nephropathy (PVN) in kidney transplant (KTx) recipients and may lead to loss of the renal allograft. We have identified two HLA-A*0201-restricted nine-amino-acid cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes of the BKV major capsid protein VP1, VP1p44, and VP1p108. Using tetramer staining assays, we showed that these epitopes were recognized by CTLs in 8 of 10 (VP1p44) and 5 of 10 (VP1p108) HLA-A*0201+ healthy individuals, while both epitopes elicited a CTL response in 10 of 10 KTx recipients with biopsy-proven PVN, although at variable levels. After in vitro stimulation with the respective peptides, CTLs directed against VP1p44 were more abundant than against VP1p108 in most healthy individuals, while the converse was true in KTx recipients with PVN, suggesting a shift in epitope immunodominance in the setting of active BKV infection. A strong CTL response in KTx recipients with PVN appeared to be associated with decreased BK viral load in blood and urine and low anti-BKV antibody titers, while a low or undetectable CTL response correlated with viral persistence and high anti-BKV antibody titers. These results suggest that this cellular immune response is present in most BKV-seropositive healthy individuals and plays an important role in the containment of BKV in KTx recipients with PVN. Interestingly, the BKV CTL epitopes bear striking homology with the recently described CTL epitopes of the other human polyomavirus JC (JCV), JCV VP1p36 and VP1p100. A high degree of epitope cross-recognition was present between BKV and corresponding JCV-specific CTLs, which indicates that the same population of cells is functionally effective against these two closely related viruses.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Viral Pathogenesis and Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Research East 213C, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Phone: (617) 667-1568. Fax: (617) 667- 8210. E-mail: ikoralni{at}bidmc.harvard.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Pharmacy Service, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4322.

{ddagger} Present address: Divisions of Neurology and Immunology, BT02- 251, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.

§ Present address: Division of Immunology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA 70433.


Journal of Virology, April 2006, p. 3495-3505, Vol. 80, No. 7
0022-538X/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.80.7.3495-3505.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Chen, Y., Bord, E., Tompkins, T., Miller, J., Tan, C. S., Kinkel, R. P., Stein, M. C., Viscidi, R. P., Ngo, L. H., Koralnik, I. J. (2009). Asymptomatic Reactivation of JC Virus in Patients Treated with Natalizumab. NEJM 361: 1067-1074 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bodaghi, S., Comoli, P., Bosch, R., Azzi, A., Gosert, R., Leuenberger, D., Ginevri, F., Hirsch, H. H. (2009). Antibody Responses to Recombinant Polyomavirus BK Large T and VP1 Proteins in Young Kidney Transplant Patients. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 2577-2585 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dugan, A. S., Maginnis, M. S., Jordan, J. A., Gasparovic, M. L., Manley, K., Page, R., Williams, G., Porter, E., O'Hara, B. A., Atwood, W. J. (2008). Human {alpha}-Defensins Inhibit BK Virus Infection by Aggregating Virions and Blocking Binding to Host Cells. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 31125-31132 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dall, A., Hariharan, S. (2008). BK Virus Nephritis after Renal Transplantation. CJASN 3: S68-S75 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Egli, A., Binggeli, S., Bodaghi, S., Dumoulin, A., Funk, G. A., Khanna, N., Leuenberger, D., Gosert, R., Hirsch, H. H. (2007). Cytomegalovirus and polyomavirus BK posttransplant. Nephrol Dial Transplant 22: viii72-viii82 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bohl, D. L., Brennan, D. C. (2007). BK Virus Nephropathy and Kidney Transplantation. CJASN 2: S36-S46 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lima, M. A., Marzocchetti, A., Autissier, P., Tompkins, T., Chen, Y., Gordon, J., Clifford, D. B., Gandhi, R. T., Venna, N., Berger, J. R., Koralnik, I. J. (2007). Frequency and Phenotype of JC Virus-Specific CD8+ T Lymphocytes in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy. J. Virol. 81: 3361-3368 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Abend, J. R., Low, J. A., Imperiale, M. J. (2007). Inhibitory Effect of Gamma Interferon on BK Virus Gene Expression and Replication. J. Virol. 81: 272-279 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, J., Melenhorst, J., Hensel, N., Rezvani, K., Sconocchia, G., Kilical, Y., Hou, J., Curfman, B., Major, E., Barrett, A. J. (2006). T-cell responses to peptide fragments of the BK virus T antigen: implications for cross-reactivity of immune response to JC virus.. J. Gen. Virol. 87: 2951-2960 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Randhawa, P. S., Gupta, G., Vats, A., Shapiro, R., Viscidi, R. P. (2006). Immunoglobulin G, A, and M Responses to BK Virus in Renal Transplantation.. CVI 13: 1057-1063 [Abstract] [Full Text]