CD4+ T-Cell Responses to Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen EBNA1 in Chinese Populations Are Highly Focused on Novel C-Terminal Domain-Derived Epitopes

CW Tsang, X Lin, NH Gudgeon, GS Taylor… - Journal of …, 2006 - Am Soc Microbiol
CW Tsang, X Lin, NH Gudgeon, GS Taylor, H Jia, EP Hui, ATC Chan, CK Lin, AB Rickinson
Journal of virology, 2006Am Soc Microbiol
Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1, the one viral protein uniformly expressed in
nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), represents a prime target for T-cell-based
immunotherapy. However, little is known about the EBNA1 epitopes, particularly CD4
epitopes, presented by HLA alleles in Chinese people, the group at highest risk for NPC. We
analyzed the CD4+ T-cell responses to EBNA1 in 78 healthy Chinese donors and found
marked focusing on a small number of epitopes in the EBNA1 C-terminal region, including a …
Abstract
Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1, the one viral protein uniformly expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), represents a prime target for T-cell-based immunotherapy. However, little is known about the EBNA1 epitopes, particularly CD4 epitopes, presented by HLA alleles in Chinese people, the group at highest risk for NPC. We analyzed the CD4+ T-cell responses to EBNA1 in 78 healthy Chinese donors and found marked focusing on a small number of epitopes in the EBNA1 C-terminal region, including a DP5-restricted epitope that was recognized by almost half of the donors tested and elicited responses able to recognize EBNA1-expressing, DP5-positive target cells.
American Society for Microbiology