title: Characterization of T-cell reactive epitopes in glycoprotein G of herpes simplex virus type 2 using synthetic peptides.
abstract: We have previously shown that the CD4+ T-cell response to herpes simplex virus type 2 glycoprotein G-2 is type-specific and can thus be used to evaluate herpes simplex virus type 2-specific T-cell responses in individuals with a concomitant herpes simplex virus type 1 infection. In this study we have followed the glycoprotein G-2-specific T-cell responses over time, and also tried to identify T-cell epitopes in the membrane bound portion and the secreted portion of glycoprotein G-2 using synthetic peptides spanning the whole amino acid sequence of glycoprotein G-2. We found that the magnitude of the glycoprotein G-2-specific response varied considerably in infected individuals over time, even though all patients responded to at least one of the two glycoproteins at all time-points examined. We could also document strong T-cell responses to synthetic peptides from the secreted glycoprotein G-2 but only low responses to synthetic peptides corresponding to sequences from the heavily glycosylated membrane-bound glycoprotein G-2. We were able to map an immunogenic region (amino acid 31-125) within the secreted glycoprotein G-2. This region of the glycoprotein induced proliferative responses in 47% of the herpes simplex virus type 2-infected individuals. However, we were not able to identify any universal T-cell epitope.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Inflammation Research, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellner
authors.forename: G-B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Löwhagen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tunbäck
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nordström
authors.forename: J-A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Liljeqvist
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000737:chemistry*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C045464:glycoprotein G, herpes simplex virus type 2