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Journal of Virology, April 2003, p. 4298-4305, Vol. 77, No. 7
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.7.4298-4305.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
The B Subunit of Escherichia coli Heat-Labile Enterotoxin Enhances CD8+ Cytotoxic-T-Lymphocyte Killing of Epstein-Barr Virus-Infected Cell Lines
Kong-Wee Ong,
A. Douglas Wilson, Timothy R. Hirst, and Andrew J. Morgan*
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, United Kingdom
Received 12 November 2002/
Accepted 2 January 2003

ABSTRACT
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a number of important
human cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma, gastric carcinoma,
and Hodgkin's lymphoma. These tumors express a viral nuclear
antigen, EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1), which cannot be presented
to T cells in a major histocompatibility complex class I context,
and the viral latent membrane proteins (LMPs). Although the
LMPs are expressed in these tumors, no effective immune response
is made. We report here that exposure to the cholera-like enterotoxin
B subunit (EtxB) in EBV-infected lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs)
enhances their susceptibility to killing by LMP-specific CD8
+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in a HLA class I-restricted manner.
CTL killing of LCLs is dramatically increased through both transporter-associated
protein-dependent and -independent epitopes after EtxB treatment.
The use of mutant B subunits revealed that the enhanced susceptibility
of LCLs to CTL killing is dependent on the B subunit's interaction
with GM
1 but not its signaling properties. These important findings
could underpin the development of novel approaches to treating
EBV-associated malignancies and may offer a general approach
to increasing the presentation of other tumor and viral antigens.

INTRODUCTION
CD8
+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that recognize HLA class
I-restricted virus peptide epitopes play an important role in
the control of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in vivo (
49).
This is demonstrated by the regression of EBV-positive posttransplant
lymphoma after either reduction of immunosuppression (
47,
58)
or adoptive transfer of EBV-reactive T lymphocytes generated
ex vivo (
18). Although EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma
(NPC) and Hodgkin's disease (HD) express a number of EBV latent
antigens, they are unable to trigger an immune response that
eliminates disease (
44). It is likely that the escape of these
tumors from immune control is due to the limited repertoire
and properties of the latent gene products that are expressed,
namely, EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and latent membrane protein
1 (LMP1) and LMP2. The presence of an internal glycine-alanine
repeat within EBNA1 prevents it from entering the HLA class
I antigen-processing pathway (
32). Nevertheless, LMP1 and LMP2
are potential target antigens for virus-specific CTL-based immunotherapy
of NPC and HD since CD8
+ T lymphocytes reacting to both LMP1
and LMP2 HLA class I-restricted peptide epitopes have been identified
in healthy seropositive donors (
37). Moreover, the HLA class
I antigen processing and presentation pathway in both NPC and
HD appears to be largely intact, since major pathway elements,
including proteasome components, transporter-associated protein
(TAP), and HLA class I molecules are detectable in these tumor
cells (
26,
40). Indeed, LMP2-specific CTLs generated from HD
patients were able to lyse malignant Reed-Sternberg cells found
in HD in vitro (
54). However, LMP-specific CTLs are detectable
at low frequencies in the peripheral blood of NPC and HD patients
and are absent from the tumor infiltrate (
8,
28). This could
be due to inefficient processing and presentation of LMP1 and
LMP2 expressed within these tumor cells, leading to little or
no recognition by circulating LMP-specific CTLs.
LMP2 colocalizes with LMP1 in the plasma membrane, and both are concentrated within detergent-resistant, glycosphingolipid-enriched domains in the plasma membrane known as lipid rafts (10, 20, 24). Lipid rafts are ubiquitous in all mammalian cells and are involved in the sorting of proteins destined for the cell surface after exit from the Golgi complex, as well as in the organization of signaling molecules on the cell surface (5, 45, 60).
The B subunits of cholera toxin (CtxB) and Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (EtxB) are potent systemic and mucosal adjuvants (61). They bind avidly to their ganglioside receptor GM1 present in lipid rafts, which then undergo rapid cross-aggregation and internalization (31). This property of EtxB has led to its use as a carrier molecule for the intracellular delivery of exogenous peptides or antigen. Fusion proteins consisting of EtxB and peptide sequences derived from ribonucleotide reductase and DNA polymerase of herpes simplex virus type 1 have been successfully delivered to their intended intracellular compartments and remained functionally intact (35, 36). Peptides corresponding to known major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted epitopes within ovalbumin or influenza nucleoprotein, when conjugated to EtxB, were also efficiently delivered into the MHC class I antigen processing and presentation pathway in murine dendritic cells (11).
We postulated that EtxB might similarly act as a delivery molecule for raft-associated components, including LMP1 and LMP2. By triggering aggregation and internalization of raft-associated LMP1 and LMP2 after the binding of EtxB to GM1, these antigens would traffic retrogradely to intracellular compartments, where they might be processed and presented in an efficient manner, leading to enhanced recognition and lysis by LMP-specific CTLs. We describe here a series of experiments that test this hypothesis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Blood donors and cell lines.
LCLs were derived from healthy carriers of known HLA type and
established by in vitro transformation of B cells with the B95.8
(type 1) virus isolate. EB4 is a EBV-negative B-cell lymphoma
cell line. These lines were maintained in complete RPMI medium
supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum.
CtxB, EtxB, and mutants of EtxB.
Recombinant EtxB and CtxB were expressed in a nontoxigenic marine vibrio, Vibrio sp. strain 60 and purified by using hydrophobic interaction and ion-exchange chromatography as reported earlier (1, 48). A non-GM1-binding mutant of EtxB, EtxB(G33D) containing a Gly
Asp substitution at position 33, and a mutant defective in EtxB-mediated signaling, EtxB(H57A) containing a His
Ala substitution at position 57 have been described and were expressed and purified as described above (13, 42). Purified preparations of EtxB, CtxB, EtxB(G33D), and EtxB(H57A) were depleted of lipopolysacharide by using Detoxi-Gel columns (Pierce, Rockford, Ill.) and contained
50 endotoxin units per mg of protein, as determined by a Limulus amebocyte lysate assay (BioWittaker, Walkersville, Md.). The proteins were dialyzed against phosphate-buffered saline and stored frozen at -80°C until used.
Localization of EtxB and LMP1.
LCLs incubated with 10 µg of EtxB/ml for 4 h at 4 or 37°C were fixed by using 1% paraformaldehyde and permeabilized in 0.1% saponin in phosphate-buffered saline. Cells were labeled with 1:500 rabbit anti-EtxB serum and 1:50 mouse anti-LMP1 antibodies CS1 to CS4 (Dako, Ely, United Kingdom) for 1 h, followed by Texas Red-conjugated anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody (1:500) and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-mouse IgG antibody (1:100; Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, Pa.). Localization of LMP1 and EtxB on labeled cells was analyzed by using a scanning confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany) under a x63 oil immersion objective lens. In experiments in which EBNA1 was detected, 5 µg of mouse anti-EBNA1 monoclonal antibody (DP15; Oncogene, Cambridge, Mass.)/ml was used in place of CS1 to CS4.
Expression levels of HLA class I, CD95, and CD40.
LCLs were treated for 4 h at 37°C with 10 µg of EtxB/ml prior to incubation with either culture supernatant containing monclonal antibodies to HLA class I (1:10; W6/32) or mouse anti-CD95 (1:50; ImmunoKontact, Abingdon, United Kingdom) or culture supernatant containing monoclonal anti-CD40 (1:10; G28.5; D Gray, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom) for 1 h at 4°C. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-mouse IgG (1:400; Sigma) was used as the secondary antibody in all cases. Surface expression of these molecules was then detected by using flow cytometry (FACScan; BD Biosciences, Cowley, United Kingdom).
Generation of polyclonal CD8+ CTL lines.
Peptide-specific polyclonal CD8+ CTL lines were generated by a modification of a protocol described elsewhere (3). CD8+ T lymphocytes were selected magnetically (MACS; Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch, Germany) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy seropositive donors. The remaining cells were pulsed with a 50 µM concentration of a known peptide for 1 h at 37°C, washed, and pooled with the CD8+ T lymphocytes before being seeded at 106 cells/ml in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% autologous serum and 25 ng of interleukin-7 (IL-7; Sigma)/ml. Then, 10 U of IL-2 (Sigma)/ml was added on day 3, and the cultures were fed twice weekly with growth medium containing IL-7 and IL-2. CD8+ T lymphocytes were again magnetically separated on day 12, with the remaining cells pulsed with 50 to 100 µM peptide for 1 h, and inactivated with 50 µg of mitomycin C/ml for another h at 37°C. Pulsed cells were then washed and added to the CD8+ T lymphocytes at a responder/stimulator ratio of 4:1. These lines were used in cytotoxicity assays from day 19.
Cytotoxicity assays.
Autologous LCLs used as targets in these assays were incubated for 4 h or overnight with 10 µg of EtxB/ml or one of its mutants. Target cells were labeled with 70 to 100 µC of 51Cr for 90 min at 37°C. Some targets were pulsed with 5 µM peptide in the final 1 h. Target cells were then used in a standard 5-h chromium release assay. To inhibit HLA class I antigen presentation, labeled targets were incubated with W6/32 culture supernatant (1:10) for 1 h at room temperature (RT) before addition of the effector cells. Control targets were treated with culture supernatant at 1:10 containing monoclonal antibodies to HLA class II (DA6.231). To demonstrate the proteasome or lysosome dependence, targets were pulsed with 100 µM lactacystin (Calbiochem, San Diego, Calif.) for 2 h, washed, and either incubated overnight or treated with 0.2 mM chloroquine (Calbiochem) for 4 h prior to 51Cr labeling.
Western blotting.
LCLs were treated with 10 µg of EtxB/ml, harvested, and lysed in 1% CA-630 lysing buffer (1% CA-630, 50 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.4], 150 mM NaCl, 2 mM EDTA) for 20 min on ice. Samples were centrifuged at 5,000 x g for 5 min, with the resultant supernatant mixed 1:1 with 2x sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis sample buffer and heated at 70°C for 5 min. Protein separation was done by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis on a 12% gel before transfer to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane. The membrane was incubated with 1:50 rat anti-LMP2 antibody (14B7; F. Grasser, Abteilung Virologie, Universitatskliniken, Homburg/Saar, Germany) overnight at 4°C. The blot was then incubated with horseradish peroxidase (1:2,000)-conjugated anti-rat immunoglobulin (Amersham, Piscataway, N.J.) for 1 h at RT, placed in a Luminol-based chemiluminescent medium, and exposed to X-ray film. The same blot was stripped and reprobed for LMP1 and tubulin by using mouse anti-LMP1 antibodies CS1 to CS4 (1:50) overnight at 4°C or mouse anti-tubulin (1:5,000; Sigma) for 1 h at RT, respectively. In both cases, horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse immunoglobulin (1:10,000; Sigma) was used for 1 h at RT.

RESULTS
EtxB colocalizes with LMP1 on the cell surface and within intracellular compartments of LCLs.
Although the presence of GM
1 and LMPs within lipid rafts has
been previously reported (
20,
56), there is some evidence that
not all raft-associated components are randomly distributed
in all rafts and that specialized rafts concentrate subsets
of raft proteins (
38,
51). We assessed the distribution of LMP1
and EtxB on LCLs at 4 and 37°C by using confocal microscopy.
Incubation of LCLs at 4°C did not interfere with the binding
of EtxB but prevented the formation of large aggregates, patching,
and internalization of lipid rafts. EtxB was distributed in
a punctate fashion over the cell surface and colocalized with
LMP1 (Fig.
1A). Given the degree of colocalization observed
and that GM
1 is the principle receptor for EtxB, it is highly
likely that GM
1 and LMP1 are found within the same domains on
the surface of LCLs. After incubation at 37°C, both EtxB
and LMP1 were redistributed by cocapping to one pole of the
cell. Furthermore, the majority were also observed to have subsequently
accumulated in the cytoplasm or other extranuclear compartments.
In contrast, no redistribution of EBNA1 was seen after binding
of EtxB (Fig.
1B), and no colocalization with internalized EtxB
was observed. These findings suggest that the coaggregation
and cointernalization of EtxB and LMPs may have occurred. As
a result, binding by EtxB to EBV-infected B cells may be able
to influence the endocytic pathways through which LMP1 is processed.
EtxB-induced susceptibility to CTL killing.
If EtxB mediates or at least accelerates the internalization
of LMP1 and LMP2, these antigens could be exposed to one or
more of the proteolytic systems present within the cell, resulting
in antigen processing and increased presentation of LMP-derived
HLA class I-restricted peptide epitopes. To test this hypothesis,
peptide-specific polyclonal CD8
+ CTL lines from three seropositive
adults were generated and used in cytotoxicity assays (Table
1). CTL lines specific for the HLA class I-restricted LMP2 epitopes
CLG, TYG and IED were used against EtxB-treated autologous LCL
targets (Fig.
2A to C). Untreated LCLs were not recognized and
lysed by the CTL lines used despite expressing the full spectrum
of EBV latent antigens. This phenomenon has been reported elsewhere,
especially with EBV-specific CTLs generated by using autologous
LCLs as antigen-presenting cells (
21,
53). One explanation offered
was that the level of peptide epitopes produced after processing
of these EBV latent antigens in LCLs is insufficient to trigger
CTL recognition. In contrast, there was significant killing
of EtxB-treated LCLs by all of the CTLs, amounting to approximately
half the level seen against targets pulsed with peptides corresponding
to the specificity of the CTL used. Howver, CTL recognition
and lysis of LMP2 peptide-pulsed LCL targets was not further
enhanced after EtxB treatment (data not shown). A likely explanation
is that the concentration of peptide used was sufficient to
saturate available peptide binding sites on MHC class I molecules
and results in maximal CTL killing. Likewise, a CTL line specific
for the HLA-A2.01-restricted LMP1 epitope, YLL, was also able
to recognize and kill EtxB-treated but not control LCLs (Fig.
2D). Enhanced susceptibility to CTL killing of EtxB-treated
target cells was evident after 4 h and was maintained at a similar
level even after an overnight incubation (Fig.
2A and D). The
release of
51Cr from LCLs was not due to EtxB-induced cell death
and lysis, since the viability of LCLs after EtxB treatment
for up to 72 h was similar to that of untreated cells (data
not shown). Importantly, a CTL line specific for the HLA-A24-restricted
epitope, RYS, within an EBV nuclear antigen was highly effective
at killing peptide-pulsed target cells but showed no increased
killing of target LCLs treated with EtxB (Fig.
2E). These data
demonstrate that EtxB treatment may not be exerting a generalized
effect on the susceptibility of LCLs to killing by CTLs; instead,
the EtxB-mediated abrogation of resistance to killing by EBV-specific
CTL is, perhaps, mechanistically linked to EBV membrane-associated
antigens found within lipid rafts.
Action of EtxB on LMP1 and LMP2 is HLA class I restricted and proteasome dependent.
Blocking antibody against HLA class I was used to confirm that
the CTL killing after EtxB treatment is mediated through interaction
between the T-cell receptor and the peptide-HLA class I complex.
The lysis of both EtxB-treated and peptide-pulsed targets was
clearly inhibited when these cells were preincubated with blocking
pan-HLA class I antibodies prior to exposure to CTLs but remained
unaffected when anti-HLA class II antibodies were used (Fig.
3A and B). This demonstrates that EtxB treatment of LCLs leads
to the enhanced presentation of the EBV-derived epitopes in
association with HLA class I molecules on the cell surface of
target cells.
Endocytosed proteins are generally degraded within lysosomes
(
16), whereas most HLA class I-restricted peptide epitopes are
produced after proteasomal processing of cytoplasmic antigens,
especially by a subset known as immunoproteasomes (
50). It has
also been reported that the production of both TAP-independent
and TAP-dependent LMP2 epitopes require proteasomal processing
(
27). Hence, we sought to determine whether one or both of these
proteolytic organelles are responsible for the production of
TAP-independent and TAP-dependent epitope peptides from endocytosed
raft-associated LMPs. EtxB-treated LCLs were treated with lactacystin,
a proteasome inhibitor, or chloroquine, which prevents acidification
of lysosomes and the activation of lysosomal proteases. Neither
inhibitor prevented CTL-mediated killing of LCLs pulsed with
an exogenous TAP-independent epitope, TYG, or a TAP-dependent
epitope, IED, since additional intracellular processing was
not required (Fig.
3C and D). In contrast, lactacystin but not
chloroquine abrogated the recognition and lysis of EtxB-treated
targets for both TAP-independent and TAP-dependent epitopes.
Hence, the increased susceptibility of EtxB-treated LCLs to
CTL killing through both TAP-independent and TAP-dependent LMP2
epitopes is dependent on proteasomal processing but not enzymatic
degradation within lysosomes.
Given the wide-ranging effects that EtxB has on the various cell types in the immune system (61), it might be possible that the effects of EtxB seen could be due to increased surface HLA class I expression, upregulation of other mediators of cell-cell killing such as CD95-CD95 ligand (Fas-Fas ligand) interactions, or a generalized activation of B cells. However, the levels of HLA class I, CD95, and a marker for B-cell activation, CD40, on the cell surface of LCLs detected by flow cytometry did not show any significant difference between untreated and EtxB-treated cells (Fig. 4A). Furthermore, EtxB-induced susceptibility to CTL killing was not due to altered LMP1 or LMP2 expression, since the amount of these antigens remained constant despite incubation with EtxB for up to 16 h (Fig. 4B).
Effect of EtxB requires GM1 binding but not EtxB-mediated signal transduction.
Some of the immunomodulatory effects of EtxB include activation
of B cells (
41), alteration of CD4
+-T-cell differentiation (
42),
modulation of cytokine production in monocytes (
59), and induction
of apoptosis of CD8
+ T lymphocytes via a c-
myc-and NF-

B-dependent
pathway (
52,
55). The effect of EtxB on the susceptibility of
EBV-infected target cells to CTLs could rely on its ability
to bind to GM
1, to activate signaling pathways, or both. Two
mutant derivatives of EtxB were used to discriminate between
these possibilities: EtxB(G33D), which does not bind to GM
1 (
42), and EtxB(H57A), which binds to GM
1 and undergoes retrograde
vesicular trafficking to the Golgi compartment but lacks the
ability to trigger the signaling events associated with the
wild-type molecule (
13). LCLs treated with EtxB(G33D) failed
to increase their susceptibility to either LMP2- or LMP1-specific
CTL lines, whereas treatment with EtxB(H57A) was as effective
as wild-type EtxB at triggering susceptibility to CTL killing
(Fig.
5A and B). We conclude that the GM
1 binding by EtxB but
not its known signaling properties is essential for enhancing
the presentation of LMPs. The importance for GM
1 binding is
further supported by the observation that CtxB, which is a close
homologue of EtxB but binds with greater specificity to GM
1 (
14,
22), also enhances the susceptibility of LCLs to LMP-specific
CTLs (Fig.
5C).

DISCUSSION
EtxB has been shown to undergo rapid internalization upon pentavalent
binding to GM
1. After internalization, EtxB is believed to traffic
via a vesicular pathway in a retrograde manner to reach the
trans-Golgi network, Golgi apparatus, and the endoplasmic reticulum
(
39). CtxB taken up via this route is transported in transferrin-negative
endosomes, implying that this might represent an alternative,
clathrin-independent endocytic pathway (
43). LMP1 has previously
been found to colocalize with GM
1-bound CtxB on the surfaces
of EBV-infected B cells (
24), and this finding is consistent
with the results with EtxB reported here. In addition, we demonstrate
that internalized EtxB can be found within the same cytoplasmic
or intracellular compartments as LMP1. We hypothesize that the
internalization of EtxB after GM
1 binding might result in the
"capture" and cotransportation of raft-associated antigens such
as LMP1 and LMP2 within the same endocytic vesicles that subsequently
traffic retrogradely to the trans-Golgi network, Golgi apparatus,
and the endoplasmic reticulum.
It could be that the EtxB effect does not occur with EBNA3A because the levels of this antigen are much lower. However, the EBNA3 family is the immunodominant group of EBV antigens in human CTL responses to EBV, and it has been suggested that their relatively high representation as MHC class I-peptide complexes contributes to their immunodominance (34). This is in marked contrast to LMP1, which is a relatively abundant EBV protein but is a very poor CTL target (25). EBNA1 is expressed in all EBV-infected cells with the possible exception of the latency 0 phenotype of circulating memory B cells, yet it is not a CTL target because it cannot access the proteasome degradation pathway (32, 33). We have also found that a fivefold upregulation of LMP2 expression in LCLs containing inducible LMP2 expression vectors does not enhance susceptibility to CTL killing compared to LCLs with normal or uninduced levels of LMP2 (G. Patsos and A. Morgan, unpublished data). Collectively, these findings imply that the availability of EBV latent antigens as CTL targets cannot be explained on the basis of the expression levels of these antigens. It is more likely that access to proteasome degradation pathways is more important (49). Indeed, here we have shown that the EtxB-mediated enhancement of susceptibility to specific CTLs is proteasome dependent.
LMP1 is degraded by a ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (2), whereas LMP2 also possesses amino-terminal PY motifs that interact with the Nedd4 family of ubiquitin ligases and hence is a potential substrate antigen for proteasomal degradation (23). However, in the absence of EtxB treatment, peptide epitopes are not efficiently presented to CTLs. More specifically, the manner in which raft-associated LMPs located on the plasma membrane are processed remains unknown. Although the exact degradation pathway after EtxB treatment has yet to be defined, the simplest explanation remains that EtxB acts to accelerate proteasome-dependant degradation of raft-associated LMPs with concomitant increased production and presentation of peptide epitopes. However, we were unable to demonstrate a reduction of the total cellular LMPs after EtxB treatment (Fig. 4B), indicating that the overall rate of degradation has not increased. Rather, we believe that EtxB-induced endocytosis diverts raft-associated LMPs away from their normal degradation pathway. Internalized LMPs, either within these endosomes or released by as-yet-undefined mechanisms into the cytoplasm, could provide an additional source of substrate antigens for immunoproteasomes that are concentrated predominantly around the endoplasmic reticulum (4), favoring the generation of immunogenic peptide epitopes. A possible model for the action of EtxB on LMP1 and LMP2 processing and presentation is shown in Fig. 6.
Various toxoid derivatives conjugated to peptides or antigens
have been used successfully in delivering exogenous peptides
to the intracellular HLA class I pathway (
12). The use of EtxB
for such a purpose has also recently been described (
11). In
these cases, the exogenous peptides conjugated to the toxin
derivative resulted in efficient intracellular delivery into
the endogenous HLA class I pathway. We believe that the results
shown here differ from these examples in three important aspects.
First, the antigens in question are expressed endogenously rather
than administered exogenously. Second, raft-associated LMP1
and LMP2 are functional, full-length viral antigens that require
highly complex processing. This is in contrast to earlier studies
wherein the antigens delivered were synthetic peptide epitopes
that require little or no processing prior to entry into the
HLA class I pathway, except when full-length human immunodeficiency
virus proteins were used with derivatives of anthrax toxin (
7,
17). Finally, fusion to EtxB was not required for efficient
delivery. We postulate that the localization of LMPs within
GM
1-rich lipid rafts allows them to enter the same endocytic
pathway as EtxB, thus avoiding the need for chemical coupling
to EtxB.
For CTL therapy in EBV-associated malignancies such as NPC and HD to be effective, the failure to efficiently present EBV antigens expressed by tumor cells needs to be overcome. The use of EtxB by intranasal/oral administration could form the basis of a novel immunotherapeutic strategy by rendering them more susceptible to circulating LMP-specific CTLs. This represents a major departure from current approaches that have concentrated on developing more effective ways of generating and expanding of antigen-specific CTLs (9, 15, 19, 46, 57). Furthermore, the use of EtxB to prevent tumor cell escape from CTL killing could be used simultaneously alongside ex vivo CTL expansion protocols currently being developed (18). The alteration of raft-associated antigen processing by EtxB may also have broader therapeutic applications in other tumors or viral infections in which raft-associated candidate antigens can be identified.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by grants to K.-W.O. from the NMRC (Singapore),
to T.R.H. from the MRC (United Kingdom), and to A.D.W. and A.J.M.
from the Wellcome Trust (United Kingdom).

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, United Kingdom. Phone: 44(0)117-9287891. Fax: 44(0)117-3316741. E-mail:
andy.morgan{at}bristol.ac.uk.

Present address: Division of Cellular and Molecular Research, National Cancer Centre, Singapore 169610. 

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Journal of Virology, April 2003, p. 4298-4305, Vol. 77, No. 7
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.7.4298-4305.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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