Molecular imprint of exposure to naturally occurring genetic variants of human cytomegalovirus on the T cell repertoire.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to naturally occurring variants of herpesviruses in clinical settings can have a dramatic impact on anti-viral immunity. Here we have evaluated the molecular imprint of variant peptide-MHC complexes on the T-cell repertoire during human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and demonstrate that primary co-infection with genetic variants of CMV was coincident with development of strain-specific T-cell immunity followed by emergence of cross-reactive virus-specific T-cells. Cross-reactive CMV-specific T cells exhibited a highly conserved public T cell repertoire, while T cells directed towards specific genetic variants displayed oligoclonal repertoires, unique to each individual. T cell recognition foot-print and pMHC-I structural analyses revealed that the cross-reactive T cells accommod

SUBMITTER: Smith C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3918921 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature