Identification of a highly conserved, dominant EV71 CD4+ T cell epitope (A3) suggests that prior enterovirus exposure or poliovirus vaccination may modulate immune responses to EV71.
May guide EV71 vaccine epitope selection; animal data leave open human effects of poliovirus vaccination.
CD4+ T cell-mediated immunity plays a central role in determining the immunopathogenesis of viral infections. However, the role of CD4+ T cells in EV71 infection, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), has yet to be elucidated. We applied a sophisticated method to identify promiscuous CD4+ T cell epitopes contained within the sequence of the EV71 polyprotein. Fifteen epitopes were identified, and three of them are dominant ones. The most dominant epitope is highly conserved among enterovirus species, including HFMD-related coxsackieviruses, HFMD-unrelated echoviruses and polioviruses. Furthermore, the CD4+ T cells specific to the epitope indeed cross-reacted with the homolog of poliovirus 3 Sabin. Our findings imply that CD4+ T cell responses to poliovirus following vaccination, or to other enteroviruses to which individuals may be exposed in early childhood, may have a modulating effect on subsequent CD4+ T cell response to EV71 infection or vaccine.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Wei et al. (2014) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: