TCR Affinity Associated with Functional Differences between Dominant and Subdominant SIV Epitope-Specific CD8+ T Cells in Mamu-A*01+ Rhesus Monkeys
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Osuna, Christa E.
Hung, Amy Shi
Ehlinger, Elizabeth
Anasti, Kara
Alam, S. Munir
Letvin, Norman L.
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1004069Metadata
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Osuna, Christa E., Ana Maria Gonzalez, Hsun-Hsien Chang, Amy Shi Hung, Elizabeth Ehlinger, Kara Anasti, S. Munir Alam, and Norman L. Letvin. 2014. “TCR Affinity Associated with Functional Differences between Dominant and Subdominant SIV Epitope-Specific CD8+ T Cells in Mamu-A*01+ Rhesus Monkeys.” PLoS Pathogens 10 (4): e1004069. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004069. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1004069.Abstract
Many of the factors that contribute to CD8+ T cell immunodominance hierarchies during viral infection are known. However, the functional differences that exist between dominant and subdominant epitope-specific CD8+ T cells remain poorly understood. In this study, we characterized the phenotypic and functional differences between dominant and subdominant simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) epitope-specific CD8+ T cells restricted by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I allele Mamu-A*01 during acute and chronic SIV infection. Whole genome expression analyses during acute infection revealed that dominant SIV epitope-specific CD8+ T cells had a gene expression profile consistent with greater maturity and higher cytotoxic potential than subdominant epitope-specific CD8+ T cells. Flow-cytometric measurements of protein expression and anti-viral functionality during chronic infection confirmed these phenotypic and functional differences. Expression analyses of exhaustion-associated genes indicated that LAG-3 and CTLA-4 were more highly expressed in the dominant epitope-specific cells during acute SIV infection. Interestingly, only LAG-3 expression remained high during chronic infection in dominant epitope-specific cells. We also explored the binding interaction between peptide:MHC (pMHC) complexes and their cognate TCRs to determine their role in the establishment of immunodominance hierarchies. We found that epitope dominance was associated with higher TCR:pMHC affinity. These studies demonstrate that significant functional differences exist between dominant and subdominant epitope-specific CD8+ T cells within MHC-restricted immunodominance hierarchies and suggest that TCR:pMHC affinity may play an important role in determining the frequency and functionality of these cell populations. These findings advance our understanding of the regulation of T cell immunodominance and will aid HIV vaccine design.Other Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3990730/pdf/Terms of Use
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