Bl. Chiang et al., ESTABLISHMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NS3 PROTEIN-SPECIFIC T-CELL CLONES FROM A PATIENT WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C, Journal of biomedical science, 5(4), 1998, pp. 290-296
Our previous study showed dominant proliferative response of periphera
l mononuclear cells to hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural (NS-3) (T
9, from aa 1188 to 1493) in chronically infected patients. Six T9-spec
ific T-cell clones derived in an HCV patient were established and stud
ied for the antigen specificity and the ability of augmentation of in
vitro antibody production. All these cloned T-cell lines responded exc
lusively to T9 antigen and could help autologous B cells in producing
anti-T9 antibody in vitro. Cytokine mRNAs of these T cells was detecte
d by polymerase chain reaction and predominant IL-2 and IFN-gamma prod
uction was noted. In addition, further elucidation of T-cell antigenic
determinant and MHC restriction suggested that these T-cell clones re
cognized at least two different T-cell antigenic determinants within t
he NS-3 region in an HLA DQ2-restricted manner. We believe characteriz
ation of HCV-specific T-cell responses, especially T-cell epitope mapp
ing and cytokine production pattern, may shed light on further underst
anding the pathogenic mechanism and designing therapy for HCV infectio
n.