Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Cooperation of CD4+ T helper cells with specific B cells is crucial for protective vaccination against pathogens by inducing long-lived neutralizing antibody responses. During infection with persistence-prone viruses, prolonged virus replication correlates with low neutralizing antibody responses. We recently described that a viral mutant of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), which lacks a T helper epitope, counterintuitively induced an enhanced protective antibody response. Likewise, partial depletion of the CD4+ T cell compartment by using anti-CD4 antibodies enhanced protective antibodies.Principal findings
Here we have developed a protocol to selectively reduce the CD4+ T cell response against viral CD4+ T cell epitopes. We demonstrate that in vivo treatment with LCMV-derived MHC-II peptides induced non-responsiveness of specific CD4+ T cells without affecting CD4+ T cell reactivity towards other antigens. This was associated with accelerated virus-specific neutralizing IgG-antibody responses. In contrast to a complete absence of CD4+ T cell help, tolerisation did not impair CD8+ T cell responses.Conclusions
This result reveals a novel "negative vaccination" strategy where specific CD4+ T cell unresponsiveness may be used to enhance the delayed protective antibody responses in chronic virus infections.
SUBMITTER: Lang KS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2048666 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Lang Karl S KS Hegazy Ahmed N AN Lang Philipp A PA Eschli Bruno B Löhning Max M Hengartner Hans H Zinkernagel Rolf M RM Recher Mike M
PloS one 20071114 11
<h4>Background</h4>Cooperation of CD4+ T helper cells with specific B cells is crucial for protective vaccination against pathogens by inducing long-lived neutralizing antibody responses. During infection with persistence-prone viruses, prolonged virus replication correlates with low neutralizing antibody responses. We recently described that a viral mutant of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), which lacks a T helper epitope, counterintuitively induced an enhanced protective antibody res ...[more]