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Updated: Mar 6, 2026
Analysis of HBV-Specific CD4 T-cell Responses and Identification of HLA-DR-Restricted CD4 T-Cell Epitopes Based on a Peptide Matrix
Published on: October 20, 2021
Viral epitope-specific T cell responses induced in chronic, hepatitis C virus-infected patients
Loren D Fast1, Sasmita Mishra1, Kittichai Promrat1
1Department of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States.
Background:
Approximate 180 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Historically, vaccination has been the most effective strategy for controlling infections of such major health concern. Therapeutic vaccine strategies for HCV, however, have demonstrated negligible success.
Aim:
Demonstrate the ability of highly-conserved viral epitopes to overcome the immune dysfunction often associated with chronic HCV infections.
Methods:
T cells from five chronic, HCV-infected patients were immunophenotyped by flow cytometry. The ex vivo T cell responses to highly-conserved viral epitopes were assessed by ELISpot assay and cytokine bead array analysis.
Results:
Both HLA-DRB-1- and HLA-A2-restricted viral epitopes induced specific, TH1-type cytokine production by T cells derived from the patients. Induction occurred despite expression of cell-surface inhibitory molecules and the presence of regulatory T cells.
Conclusion:
These findings support the potential ability of a broad, multi-epitope-based therapeutic vaccine to elicit virus-specific immune responses in chronic hepatitis C virus-infected patients.
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