Human and Murine Clonal CD8+ T Cell Expansions Arise during Tuberculosis Because of TCR Selection.

ABSTRACT: The immune system can recognize virtually any antigen, yet T cell responses against several pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are restricted to a limited number of immunodominant epitopes. The host factors that affect immunodominance are incompletely understood. Whether immunodominant epitopes elicit protective CD8+ T cell responses or instead act as decoys to subvert immunity and allow pathogens to establish chronic infection is unknown. Here we show that anatomically distinct human granulomas contain clonally expanded CD8+ T cells with overlapping T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires. Similarly, the murine CD8+ T cell response against M. tuberculosis is dominated by TB10.44-11-specific T cells with extreme TCRβ bias. Using a retro genic model of TB10.44-11-specific CD8+ Tcell

SUBMITTER: Nunes-Alves C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4422591 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature