title: Persistent memory CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses in recovered severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients to SARS coronavirus M antigen.
abstract: The membrane (M) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is a major glycoprotein with multiple biological functions. In this study, we found that memory T cells against M protein were persistent in recovered SARS patients by detecting gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production using ELISA and ELISpot assays. Flow cytometric analysis showed that both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were involved in cellular responses to SARS-CoV M antigen. Furthermore, memory CD8+ T cells displayed an effector memory cell phenotype expressing CD45RO- CCR7- CD62L-. In contrast, the majority of IFN-gamma+ CD4+ T cells were central memory cells with the expression of CD45RO+ CCR7+ CD62L-. The epitope screening from 30 synthetic overlapping peptides that cover the entire SARS-CoV M protein identified four human T-cell immunodominant peptides, p21-44, p65-91, p117-140 and p200-220. All four immunodominant peptides could elicit cellular immunity with a predominance of CD8+ T-cell response. This data may have important implication for developing SARS vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510089, China.
authors.forename: Litao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510089, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510089, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoling
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Zitong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
authors.forename: Zhixin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Research Center, NIAID/NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Koup
authors.affiliation: Vaccine Research Center, NIAID/NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Bailer
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510089, China.
authors.forename: Changyou
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D007371:Interferon-gamma