The use of class-I HLA tetramers for the detection of hepatitis C virus NS3-specific CD8(+) T cells in patients with chronic infection.
OBJECTIVE
New methods to detect virus-specific T-cell responses have recently been developed. Several human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-peptide tetramers for the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific CD8(+) T cells are under evaluation.


METHODS
Evaluation of one HLA class I-tetramer (HCVNS3-2) for the detection of HCV NS3-specific CD8(+) T cells in a series of 38 HLA-A2(+) chronically infected patients.


RESULTS
Almost half (42%) of the patients had detectable NS3-specific CD8(+) T cells. The frequencies of such cells ranged from 0.01% to 0.22% of total CD8(+) T cells. No significant differences in clinical features or mean viral load were detected between patients with or without tetramer + CD8(+) T cells.


CONCLUSIONS
The tetramer HCVNS3-2 may be very useful for the study of the HCV-specific CD8(+) immune response. Combination of this reagent with other tetramers based on other HCV peptides may help in the understanding of the immune response to the virus. However, a panel of tetramers based on several parts of the HCV polyprotein may be a mandatory requirement to explore the whole breadth of the CD8(+) T-cell response against HCV and to detect that response in the majority of patients with chronic infection.
López-Labrador
F Xavier
FX
Department of Medicine (Gastroenterology and Hepatology), Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305, USA. fxlopez@teleline.es
He
Xiao-Song
XS
Berenguer
Marina
M
Cheung
Ramsey C
RC
Wright
Teresa L
TL
Greenberg
Harry B
HB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis; D019562:Viral Load; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases
D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D006680:HLA Antigens; D012313:RNA; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C084422:NS3 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D043583:Nucleoside-Triphosphatase; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D000085242:Viral Proteases