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Generation of Multivirus-specific T Cells to Prevent/treat Viral Infections after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant
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Published on: May 27, 2011

Virus-specific CD4+ T cells: ready for direct attack

Kevin N Heller1, Cagan Gurer, Christian Münz

  • 1Laboratory of Viral Immunobiology and Christopher H. Browne Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA.

The Journal of Experimental Medicine
|March 22, 2006
PubMed

CD4+ T cells are classically thought to orchestrate adaptive immune responses. But recent studies demonstrate that they can also kill infected cells directly. A new paper shows that highly efficient processing of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) glycoproteins for presentation on MHC class II makes virus-transformed B cells susceptible to lysis by CD4+ T cells. Thus, antiviral vaccines should aim to stimulate both helper and cytolytic CD4+ T cells.

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