title: Ovine and murine T cell epitopes from the non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) are shared among viral serotypes.
abstract: Bluetongue virus (BTV) is a non-enveloped dsRNA virus that causes a haemorrhagic disease mainly in sheep. It is an economically important Orbivirus of the Reoviridae family. In order to estimate the importance of T cell responses during BTV infection, it is essential to identify the epitopes targeted by the immune system. In the present work, we selected potential T cell epitopes (3 MHC-class II-binding and 8 MHC-class I binding peptides) for the C57BL/6 mouse strain from the BTV-8 non-structural protein NS1, using H2b-binding predictive algorithms. Peptide binding assays confirmed all MHC-class I predicted peptides bound MHC-class I molecules. The immunogenicity of these 11 predicted peptides was then determined using splenocytes from BTV-8-inoculated C57BL/6 mice. Four MHC-class I binding peptides elicited specific IFN-γ production and generated cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in BTV-8 infected mice. CTL specific for 2 of these peptides were also able to recognise target cells infected with different BTV serotypes. Similarly, using a combination of IFN-γ ELISPOT, intracellular cytokine staining and proliferation assays, two MHC-class II peptides were identified as CD4+ T cell epitopes in BTV-8 infected mice. Importantly, two peptides were also consistently immunogenic in sheep infected with BTV-8 using IFN-γ ELISPOT assays. Both of these peptides stimulated CD4+ T cells that cross-reacted with other BTV serotypes. The characterisation of these T cell epitopes can help develop vaccines protecting against a broad spectrum of BTV serotypes and differentiate infected from vaccinated animals.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peña
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (CISA-INIA), Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria y Alimentaria, Valdeolmos, Madrid, Spain. sevilla@inia.es.
authors.forename: Noemí
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sevilla
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001819:Bluetongue / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003429:Cross Reactions; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012756:Sheep; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; C078966:NS1 protein, bluetongue virus; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins