Analyses of the specificity of CD4 T cells during the primary immune response to influenza virus reveals dramatic MHC-linked asymmetries in reactivity to individual viral proteins.

ABSTRACT: Influenza is a contagious, acute respiratory disease that is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. CD4 T cells play an important role in the immune response to this pathogen through the secretion of antiviral cytokines, and by providing help to CD8 T cells and B cells to promote the development of immunological memory and neutralizing antibody responses. Despite these well-defined roles in the anti-influenza response, our understanding of CD4 T-cell diversity and specificity remains limited. In the study reported here, overlapping peptides representing 5 different influenza viral proteins were used in EliSpot assays to enumerate and identify the specificity of anti-influenza CD4 T cells directly ex vivo following infection of mice with influenza virus, using two st

SUBMITTER: Nayak JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2883523 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature