title: T-cell responses to dengue virus in humans.
abstract: Dengue virus (DENV) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in most tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Dengue virus infection induces specific CD4+CD8- and CD8+CD4- T cells in humans. In primary infection, T-cell responses to DENV are serotype cross-reactive, but the highest response is to the serotype that caused the infection. The epitopes recognized by DENV-specific T cells are located in most of the structural and non-structural proteins, but NS3 is the protein that is most dominantly recognized. In patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) caused by secondary DENV infection, T cells are highly activated in vivo. These highly activated T cells are DENV-specific and oligoclonal. Multiple kinds of lymphokines are produced by the activated T cells, and it has been hypothesized that these lymphokines are responsible for induction of plasma leakage, one of the most characteristic features of DHF. Thus, T-cells play important roles in the pathogenesis of DHF and in the recovery from DENV infection.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kurane
authors.forename: Takaji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsutani
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takasaki
authors.forename: Siripen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalayanarooj
authors.forename: Sharone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Alan L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rothman
authors.forename: Francis A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Ennis