| First Author | Yauch LE | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 185 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 5405-16 |
| PubMed ID | 20870934 | Mgi Jnum | J:165203 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4836440 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.1001709 |
| Citation | Yauch LE, et al. (2010) CD4+ T cells are not required for the induction of dengue virus-specific CD8+ T cell or antibody responses but contribute to protection after vaccination. J Immunol 185(9):5405-16 |
| abstractText | The contribution of T cells to the host response to dengue virus (DENV) infection is not well understood. We previously demonstrated a protective role for CD8(+) T cells during primary DENV infection using a mouse-passaged DENV strain and IFN-alpha/betaR(-/-) C57BL/6 mice, which are susceptible to DENV infection. In this study, we examine the role of CD4(+) T cells during primary DENV infection. Four I-A(b)-restricted epitopes derived from three of the nonstructural DENV proteins were identified. CD4(+) T cells expanded and were activated after DENV infection, with peak activation occurring on day 7. The DENV-specific CD4(+) T cells expressed intracellular IFN-gamma, TNF, IL-2, and CD40L, and killed peptide-pulsed target cells in vivo. Surprisingly, depletion of CD4(+) T cells before DENV infection had no effect on viral loads. Consistent with this observation, CD4(+) T cell depletion did not affect the DENV-specific IgG or IgM Ab titers or their neutralizing activity, or the DENV-specific CD8(+) T cell response. However, immunization with the CD4(+) T cell epitopes before infection resulted in significantly lower viral loads. Thus, we conclude that whereas CD4(+) T cells are not required for controlling primary DENV infection, their induction by immunization can contribute to viral clearance. These findings suggest inducing anti-DENV CD4(+) T cell responses by vaccination may be beneficial. |
