title: Cytotoxic T cell activity against peptides of Hu protein in anti-Hu syndrome.
abstract: Half of all patients with limbic encephalitis and small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) have anti-Hu antibodies that react with all of central and peripheral nervous system neuronal nuclei in immunohistochemical studies and 35- to 40-kDa reactive bands on western blots of extracts from isolated central nervous system neurons. The roles of anti-Hu antibodies in neuronal damage, however, have yet to be shown. Evidence of infiltration of CD8-positive T cells to tumors and affected nervous tissues and limited use of the T cell receptor repertoire in the central nervous system suggests that CD8-positive cytotoxic T cells (CTL) cause neuronal loss. We found the HLA B7 supertype in all of seven Japanese patients with anti-Hu syndrome. We identified HLA class I-restricted, CD 8-positive cytotoxic T cell activity in peripheral blood from three patients with anti-Hu syndrome for five peptides with binding motifs for the HLA B7 supertype in the amino acid sequence of the Hu protein. This study support the involvement of CD8-positive cytotoxic T cells in the development of paraneoplastic neurological syndrome with anti-Hu antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Clinical Research Center, National Nishi-Niigata Central Hospital, 1-14-1 Masago, 950-2085, Niigata, Japan. masami@masa.go.jp
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugie
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Motizuki
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamakura
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000276:immunology; D051959:ELAV Proteins; D015793:HLA-B7 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D020363:Limbic Encephalitis / Q000276:immunology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D051959:ELAV Proteins; D015793:HLA-B7 Antigen; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins