Analysis of the immune response of Hantaan virus nucleocapsid protein-specific CD8+ T cells in mice

Autor: Koichi Araki, Ichiro Nakamura, Jiro Arikawa, Kumiko Yoshimatsu, Kiichi Kajino, Midori Taruishi, Megumi Okumura
Rok vydání: 2006
Předmět:
Zdroj: Virology. 365(2)
ISSN: 0042-6822
Popis: The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class-I restricted epitope of Hantaan virus nucleocapsid protein (N) was identified using overlapping peptides and BALB/c mice. Using the MHC tetramer derived from the epitope, we found that the level of N-specific CD8(+) T cells increased to approximately 20% of all antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells in a mouse model of transient infection. However, N-specific CD8(+) T cells were undetectable in a mouse model of persistent infection, both in the persistently infected phase and in the convalescent phase. Levels of CD8(+) T cells producing interferon-gamma were weak in both the acute and convalescent phases in the persistently infected model. These results indicate that hantavirus strongly suppresses the production of N-specific CD8(+) T cells throughout the course of infection in persistently infected mice. Moreover, N-specific CD8(+) T cells were not effective in recovering persistently infected mice, despite the existence of abundant N antigen in vivo.
Databáze: OpenAIRE