HBZ is an immunogenic protein, but not a target antigen for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
Recently, HBZ has been reported to play an important role in the proliferation of adult T-cell leukaemia (ATL) cells and might be a target of novel therapy for ATL. To develop a novel immunotherapy for ATL, we verified the feasibility of cellular immunotherapy targeting HBZ. We established an HBZ-specific and HLA-A*0201-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clone. Detailed study using this CTL clone clearly showed that HBZ is certainly an immunogenic protein recognizable by human CTLs; however, HBZ-specific CTLs could not lyse ATL cells. Failure of HBZ-specific CTLs to recognize human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-infected cells might be due to a low level of HBZ protein expression in ATL cells and resistance of HTLV-1-infected cells to CTL-mediated cytotoxicity. Although HBZ plays an important role in the proliferation of HTLV-1-infected cells, it may also provide a novel mechanism that allows them to evade immune recognition.
Department of Bioregulatory Medicine, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, Japan.
Koichiro
K
Suemori
Department of Bioregulatory Medicine, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, Japan.
Hiroshi
H
Fujiwara
Department of Bioregulatory Medicine, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, Japan.
Toshiki
T
Ochi
Department of Bioregulatory Medicine, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, Japan.
Taiji
T
Ogawa
Laboratory for Virus Immunology, Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Masao
M
Matsuoka
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Jiaikai Imamura Hospital, Kagoshima, Japan.
Tadashi
T
Matsumoto
Université Montpellier 1, Centre d'Études d'Agents Pathogènes et Biotechnologies pour la Santé (CPBS), CNRS UM5236, Montpellier, France.
Jean-Michel
JM
Mesnard
Department of Bioregulatory Medicine, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Toon, Ehime, Japan.
Masaki
M
Yasukawa
D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; C479751:HBZ protein, human T-cell leukemia virus type I; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins