title: Soluble CD40 ligand-activated B cells from patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection as antigen presenting cells to induce hepatitis B virus specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes.
abstract: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the result of an inadequate antiviral immune response to the virus. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the soluble CD40 ligand-activated B (CD40-B) cells could present antigen and induce specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in patients with chronic HBV infection. We observed that after activated by sCD40L, the expression of CD80, CD86, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I and II molecules on the CD40-B cells was significantly increased. Cytometry and fluorescence microscopy showed that more than 41.34% CD40-B cells were loaded by the HBcAg peptide. Furthermore, after been activated and HBcAg18-27 antigen peptide pulsed, B cells obtained from patients with chronic HBV infection could induce HBcAg18-27 specific CTLs in vitro. Taken together, our results show that B cells from patients with chronic HBV infection can be activated by sCD40L and may function as antigen presenting cells and induce HBV-specific CTLs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Guangmei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China. Electronic address: dr.wu@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D019013:CD40 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D012995:Solubility; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D019013:CD40 Antigens; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens
keywords: Antigen presenting cells; B cells; Cytotoxic T lymphocytes; Hepatitis B; Soluble CD40 ligand