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    Hum Immunol. 2009 Sep;70(9):711-21. Epub 2009 Jun 11.

    Genome-wide screening of human T-cell epitopes in influenza A virus reveals a broad spectrum of CD4(+) T-cell responses to internal proteins, hemagglutinins, and neuraminidases.

    Babon JA, Cruz J, Orphin L, Pazoles P, Co MD, Ennis FA, Terajima M.

    Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.

    We performed a genome-wide screening for T-cell epitopes using synthetic peptides that encompass all of the influenza A viral proteins, including subtype variants for hemagglutinin (HA; H1, H3, and H5) and neuraminidase (NA; human and avian N1 and N2) proteins, based on the sequence information of recently circulating strains. We identified a total of 83 peptides, 54 of them novel, to which specific T cells were detectable in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assays using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from four healthy adult donors. The surface glycoproteins, HA and NA, major components of vaccines, expressed many T-cell epitopes. HA and matrix protein 1 expressed more T-cell epitopes than other viral proteins, most of which were recognized by CD4(+) T cells. We established several cytotoxic CD4(+) T-cell lines from these donors. We also analyzed H1 and H3 HA-specific T-cell responses using the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 30 hospital workers. Fifty-three percent of donors gave a positive response to H3 HA peptides, whereas 17% gave a positive response to H1 HA peptides. Our genome-wide screening is useful in identifying T-cell epitopes and is complementary to the approach based on the predicted binding peptides to well-studied HLA-A, -B, and -DR alleles.

    PMID: 19524006 [PubMed - in process]

    PMCID: 2767101

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