ALPHAVIRUS-SPECIFIC CYTOTOXIC T-LYMPHOCYTES RECOGNIZE A CROSS-REACTIVE EPITOPE FROM THE CAPSID PROTEIN AND CAN ELIMINATE VIRUS FROM PERSISTENTLY INFECTED MACROPHAGES
M. Lalinn et al., ALPHAVIRUS-SPECIFIC CYTOTOXIC T-LYMPHOCYTES RECOGNIZE A CROSS-REACTIVE EPITOPE FROM THE CAPSID PROTEIN AND CAN ELIMINATE VIRUS FROM PERSISTENTLY INFECTED MACROPHAGES, Journal of virology, 72(6), 1998, pp. 5146-5153
Persistent alphavirus infections in synovial and neural tissues are be
lieved to be associated with chronic arthritis and encephalitis, respe
ctively, and represent likely targets for CD8(+) alpha beta cytotoxic
T lymphocytes (CTL). Here we show that the capsid protein is a dominan
t target for alphavirus-specific CTL in BALB/c mice and that capsid-sp
ecific CTL from these mice recognize an H-2K(d) restricted epitope, QY
SGGRFTI. This epitope lies in the highly conserved region of the capsi
d protein, and QYSGGRFTI-specific CTL were cross reactive across a ran
ge of Old World alphaviruses. In vivo the acute primary viraemia of th
ese highly cytopathic viruses was unaffected by QYSGGRFTI-specific CTL
. Hen-ever, in vitro these CTL were able to completely clear virus fro
m macrophages persistently and productively infected with the arthroge
nic alpha-virus Ross River virus.