title: A dominant EV71-specific CD4+ T cell epitope is highly conserved among human enteroviruses.
abstract: CD4+ T cell-mediated immunity plays a central role in determining the immunopathogenesis of viral infections. However, the role of CD4+ T cells in EV71 infection, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), has yet to be elucidated. We applied a sophisticated method to identify promiscuous CD4+ T cell epitopes contained within the sequence of the EV71 polyprotein. Fifteen epitopes were identified, and three of them are dominant ones. The most dominant epitope is highly conserved among enterovirus species, including HFMD-related coxsackieviruses, HFMD-unrelated echoviruses and polioviruses. Furthermore, the CD4+ T cells specific to the epitope indeed cross-reacted with the homolog of poliovirus 3 Sabin. Our findings imply that CD4+ T cell responses to poliovirus following vaccination, or to other enteroviruses to which individuals may be exposed in early childhood, may have a modulating effect on subsequent CD4+ T cell response to EV71 infection or vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Immunology, Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ruicheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Chunfu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Chunhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Altmeyer
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Anne S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: De Groot
authors.forename: Qibin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Leng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D029821:Enterovirus A, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D004769:Enterovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D006232:Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000276:immunology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000276:immunology; D020815:Polyproteins / Q000276:immunology; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D020815:Polyproteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines