Gt. Belz et al., Contemporary analysis of MHC-related immunodominance hierarchies in the CD8(+) T cell response to influenza A viruses, J IMMUNOL, 165(5), 2000, pp. 2404-2409
Early studies of influenza virus-specific CD8(+) T cell-mediated immunity i
ndicated that the level of CTL activity associated with H2D(b) is greatly d
iminished in mice that also express H2K(k). Such MHC-related immunodominanc
e hierarchies are of some interest, as they could lead to variable outcomes
for peptide-based vaccination protocols in human populations, The influenc
e of H2Kk on the H2D(b)-restricted response profile has thus been looked at
again using a contemporary, quantitative, IFN-gamma -based flow cytometric
assay, The depressive effect of H2K(k) was very apparent for the influenza
D(b)PA(224) epitope and was also reproduced when CTL activity was measured
for H2D(b)-expressing targets pulsed with the immunodominant NP,,, peptide
, The secondary CD8(+)IFN-gamma (+) (DNP366)-N-b-specific response was much
greater in parental H2(b) than in H2(kxb)F(1) mice, but the sizes of the C
D8+ sets specific for (KNP50)-N-k and (DNP366)-N-b, were essentially equiva
lent in the F-1 animals. Thus, although the immunodominance profile associa
ted with (DNP366)-N-b is lost when H2Kk is also present, the response is st
ill substantial, A further, MHC-related effect was also identified for the
K(k)NS1(152) epitope, which was consistently associated with a greater CD8(
+)IFN-gamma (+) response in H2k(k)D(b) recombinant than in (H2K(k)D(k) x H2
K(b)D(b))F-1 mice. The diminished D(b)PA(224) response in H2(kxb)F(1) mice
was characterized by loss of a prominent V beta7 TCR responder phenotype, s
upporting the idea that TCR deletion during ontogeny shapes the available r
epertoire, The overall conclusion is that these MHC-related immunodominance
hierarchies are more subtle than the early CTL assays suggested and, altho
ugh inherently unpredictable, are unlikely to cause a problem for peptide-b
ased vaccine strategies.