Conserved epitopes dominate cross- CD 8 super(+) T -cell responses against influenza A H 1 N 1 virus among A sian populations

• Published in: European journal of immunology 2013-08, Vol.43 (8), p.2055-2069
• Main Authors: Liu, Jun, Wu, Bin, Zhang, Shihong, Tan, Shuguang, Sun, Yeping, Chen, Zhujun, Qin, Yuanfang, Sun, Mingwei, Shi, Guoli, Wu, Ying, Sun, Meiyi, Liu, Na, Ning, Kaida, Ma, Ying, Gao, Bin, Yan, Jinghua, Zhu, Fengcai, Wang, Hua, Gao, George F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0014-2980; 1521-4141
• DOI: 10.1002/eji.201343417

Novel strains of influenza A viruses ( IAV s) have emerged with high infectivity and/or pathogenicity in recent years, causing worldwide concern. T cells are correlated with protection in humans through cross-reactive immunity against heterosubtypes of IAV . However, the different hierarchical roles of IAV -derived epitopes with distinct levels of polymorphism in the cross-reactive T -cell responses against IAV remain elusive. In this study, immunodominant epitopes scattered throughout the entire proteome of 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1 virus and seasonal IAV s were synthesized and divided into different pools depending on their conservation. The overall profile of the IAV -specific CD 8 super(+) T -cell immunity was detected by utilizing these peptide pools and also individual peptides. A dominant role of the conserved peptide-specific T -cell immunity was illuminated within the anti- IAV responses, while the CD 8 super(+) T -cell responses against the variable epitopes were lower than the conserved peptides. As previously demonstrated within a C aucasian population, we determined that GL 9-specific T cells, which also utilize V [beta] 17 TCR ( BV 19), play a pivotal role in IAV -specific T -cell immunity within an HLA - A 2 super(+) A sian population. Our study objectively reveals the different predominant roles of T -cell epitopes among IAV -specific cross-reactive cellular immunity. This may guide the development of vaccines with cross- T -cell immunogenicity against heterosubtypes of IAV .