EBNA1 antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis

Epidemiological data suggests that Epstein-Barr virus may be involved in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We aimed to determine the frequency of CD8+ T cells specific for one EBNA1-derived epitope (HPVGEADYFEY) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of patients with MS and other inflammatory neurological diseases (OIND). The frequency of specific CD8+ T cells was assessed by HLA-class-I-binding pentamers restricted to HLA-B35. The frequency of HPVGEADYFEY-specific CD8+ T cells did neither differ significantly in blood nor CSF in MS compared to OIND, but was consistently higher in CSF compared to blood regardless of diagnosis.