ANTIGEN-PROCESSING AND PRESENTATION OF HUMAN RHINOVIRUS TO CD4 T-CELLS IS FACILITATED BY BINDING TO CELLULAR RECEPTORS FOR VIRUS

Human rhinovirus serotypes (HRV) fall into two distinct groups, major and minor, by virtue of their cell receptor-binding ability. In this s tudy minor receptor-binding group viruses are demonstrated to bind dir ectly to cells of the murine immune system, including lymphoid dendrit ic cells which act as antigen-presenting cells, although they do not p roduce a productive infection in murine cells. This binding is specifi c and can be blocked by other serotypes of minor-group HRV. Pre-treatm ent of HRV 1A, a minor-group virus, with HRV 1A-specific antibodies in hibited the cellular proliferation of murine virus primed T helper cel ls, whereas antibody treatment of HRV 15, a non-binding major serotype , gave no inhibition. The cell binding ability of minor-group HRV play ed a role in the overall immunogenicity of this virus group, which was shown to be enhanced compared to the immunogenicity of major-group vi ruses in mice.