Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 186, Issue 9, Pages 5107-5118Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1001790
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Funding
- Swedish Research Council
- Swedish Cancer Foundation, Vinnova
- Stockholm County Council
- Swedish Society of Medical Research
- Swedish Society of Medicine
- Goljes Memorial Fund
- Ake Wiberg Foundation
- Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- Karolinska Institutet
- Karolinska Institutet/Sodertorns University College
- Lars Hiertas Memorial Fund
- Magnus Bergvalls Foundation
- Ruth and Richard Juhlin Foundation
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The hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific T cell response in patients with chronic HCV is dysfunctional. In this study, we aimed at restoring immunological function through therapeutic vaccination in a transgenic mouse model with impaired HCV-specific T cell responses due to a persistent presence of hepatic HCV nonstructural (NS)3/4A Ags. The HCV-specific T cells have an actively maintained dysfunction reflected in reduced frequency, impaired cytokine production, and impaired effector function in vivo, which can be partially restored by blocking regulatory T cells or programmed cell death ligand 1. We hypothesized that the impairment could be corrected by including sequences that created a normal priming environment by recruiting healthy heterologous T cells and by activating innate signaling. Endogenously expressed hepatitis B core Ag (HBcAg) can recruit heterologous T cells and activate TLR (TLR7) signaling. Hence, by combining HCV NS3/4A with different forms of HBcAg we found that heterologous sequences somewhat improved activation and expansion of NS3/4A-specific T cells in a wild-type host. Importantly, the signals provided by HBcAg effectively restored the activation of HCV-specific T cells in a tolerant NS3/4A-transgenic mouse model. The adjuvant effect could also be transferred to the priming of dysfunctional HLA-A2-restricted NS3-specific T cells in vivo. Thus, recruiting healthy heterologous T cells to the site of priming may also help restore HCV-specific responses present in a chronically infected host. The Journal of Immunology, 2011, 186: 5107-5118.
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