Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Paludan, Casper
• Bickham, Kara
• Nikiforow, Sarah
• Tsang, Ming L
• Goodman, Kiera
• Hanekom, Willem A
• Fonteneau, Jean-Francois
• Stevanovic, Stefan
• Munz, Christian

Titel

Epstein-Barr Nuclear Antigen 1-Specific CD4+ Th1 Cells Kill Burkitt's Lymphoma Cells

Ist Teil von

• The Journal of immunology (1950), 2002-08, Vol.169 (3), p.1593-1603

Ort / Verlag

United States: Am Assoc Immnol

Erscheinungsjahr

2002

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The gamma-herpesvirus, EBV, is reliably found in a latent state in endemic Burkitt's lymphoma. A single EBV gene product, Epstein-Barr nuclear Ag 1 (EBNA1), is expressed at the protein level. Several mechanisms prevent immune recognition of these tumor cells, including a block in EBNA1 presentation to CD8(+) killer T cells. Therefore, no EBV-specific immune response has yet been found to target Burkitt's lymphoma. We now find that EBNA1-specific, Th1 CD4(+) cytotoxic T cells recognize Burkitt's lymphoma lines. CD4(+) T cell epitopes of EBNA1 are predominantly found in the C-terminal, episome-binding domain of EBNA1, and approximately 0.5% of peripheral blood CD4(+) T cells are specific for EBNA1. Therefore, adaptive immunity can be directed against Burkitt's lymphoma, and perhaps this role for CD4(+) Th1 cells extends to other tumors that escape MHC class I presentation.