engleski

Monitoring of human antiviral CD8+ T cells using Class I peptide tetramers in influenza

Evaluation of specific antiviral immunity in either influenza infected or immunized humans has been considered as the only reliable indicator of protective immunity and virus resistance. Antiviral immunity has usually been assessed by antiviral antibody determination in paired sera (seroconversion). This method evaluates only the capacity of B cells to secrete antiviral antibodies, while T-cells as the most important cells in antiviral immune reactions are not directly analyzed. We used new MHC tetramer technology with an attempt to qantify ex vivo influenza-specific T cells. Enumeration of CD8+ influenza specific T-cells requires cognate recognition of the T cell receptor by a Class I MHC. This was achieved using custom designed HLA-A 0201-restricted influenza matrix protein (FLU) tetramer. Influenza infection was confirmed with DFA in nasopharyngeal swab and with IH tests in sera. We showed that during acute phase of infection, HLA-A*0201+ patients had influenza-specific T cells, while these cells were not present in peripheral blood of HLA-*A0201 patients without confirmed influenza infection. These results indicate that MHC tetramer method can be used to distinguish influenza infection from other infections that cause similar symptoms in patients.

CD8+ T cells; Class I peptide tetramers; influenza

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