Human Heart–Infiltrating T-Cell Clones From Rheumatic Heart Disease Patients Recognize Both Streptococcal and Cardiac Proteins

The presence of heart-M protein cross-reactive T-cell clones in rheumatic heart lesions suggests their direct involvement in the pathogenesis of this disease. The dissection of protective and pathogenic epitopes of streptococcal M protein is an important step in allowing the development of a safe anti-streptococcal synthetic vaccine.