Identification of rubella virus T-cell epitopes recognized in anamnestic response to RA27/3 vaccine: associations with boost in neutralizing antibodytiter

Rubella virus (RV)-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) and antibodies wer e measured in healthy adolescents reimmunized with measles-mumps-rubella (M MR) vaccine. Lymphocyte proliferation to RV synthetic peptides was determin ed before and at 2, 4 and 10 weeks after, MMR. After MMR, increased CMI was observed with 16 peptides, including six containing antibody neutralizatio n (NT) domains. Postive CMI (stimulation index greater than or equal to 2.0 ) to E1(254-285) and C(1-29) before vaccination was significantly associate d with a boost in NT titers, while positive CMI at weeks 2 or 4 to E1(254-2 85), E1(301-314), E1(389-408), E1(462-481), E2 (134-150), E2(140-156), E2(1 65-179), C(1-29) and C(88-111) showed the same association. (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.