Priming of Antiviral CD8 T Cells without Effector Function by a Persistently Replicating Hepatitis C-Like Virus.

ABSTRACT: Immune-competent animal models for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) are nonexistent, impeding studies of host-virus interactions and vaccine development. Experimental infection of laboratory rats with a rodent hepacivirus isolated from Rattus norvegicus (RHV) is a promising surrogate model due to its recapitulation of HCV-like chronicity. However, several aspects of rat RHV infection remain unclear, for instance, how RHV evades host adaptive immunity to establish persistent infection. Here, we analyzed the induction, differentiation, and functionality of RHV-specific CD8 T cell responses that are essential for protection against viral persistence. Virus-specific CD8 T cells targeting dominant and subdominant major histocompatibility complex class I epitopes proliferated considerably in liver af

SUBMITTER: Hartlage AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7199419 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature