title: Recognition of conserved amino acid motifs of common viruses and its role in autoimmunity.
abstract: The triggers of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) remain elusive. Epidemiological studies suggest that common pathogens can exacerbate and also induce MS, but it has been difficult to pinpoint individual organisms. Here we demonstrate that in vivo clonally expanded CD4+ T cells isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of a MS patient during disease exacerbation respond to a poly-arginine motif of the nonpathogenic and ubiquitous Torque Teno virus. These T cell clones also can be stimulated by arginine-enriched protein domains from other common viruses and recognize multiple autoantigens. Our data suggest that repeated infections with common pathogenic and even nonpathogenic viruses could expand T cells specific for conserved protein domains that are able to cross-react with tissue-derived and ubiquitous autoantigens.
authors.affiliation: Cellular Immunology Section, Neuroimmunology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Mireia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sospedra
authors.forename: Yingdong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: zur Hausen
authors.forename: Paolo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Muraro
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hamashin
authors.forename: Ethel-Michele
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: de Villiers
authors.forename: Clemencia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pinilla
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015551:Autoimmunity; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000276:immunology; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D022783:Torque teno virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell