Magnitude of EBV-specific CD8+ T cell responses in HD and MS patients.

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posted on 2013-04-11, 00:07 authored by Daniela F. Angelini, Barbara Serafini, Eleonora Piras, Martina Severa, Eliana M. Coccia, Barbara Rosicarelli, Serena Ruggieri, Claudio Gasperini, Fabio Buttari, Diego Centonze, Rosella Mechelli, Marco Salvetti, Giovanna Borsellino, Francesca Aloisi, Luca Battistini

The frequencies of CD8+ T cells specific for EBV latent and lytic antigens were assessed in HD (n = 17) and total untreated MS patients (n = 26) (A), as well as in untreated active MS (a-MS, n = 13) and inactive MS (i-MS, n = 13) patients, IFN-β-treated active MS patients (a-MS IFN-β, n = 4) and natalizumab (NTZ)-treated inactive MS patients (i-MS NTZ, n = 14) (B, C). The percentages of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells within the CD3+ CD8+ T cell population were analyzed by staining with the corresponding HLA-A*0201 and HLA-B*0801 pentamers. Symbols in B and C refer to individual responses to peptide epitopes from the indicated EBV latent and lytic proteins from each donor. The frequencies were calculated after gating on total, live CD3+ CD8+ T cells. Data are shown in logarithmic scale. In A the bars represent the median ± the minimum and maximum value while in B and C the bars represent mean values ± SD; p values are calculated with unpaired t-test with 95% confidence intervals. (D) Representative flow cytometric expression profiles for pentamer+ CD8+ T cells specific for the indicated EBV latent and lytic antigens in HD, untreated inactive MS and active MS patients are shown in D. Numbers represent percentages of pentamer+ cells within the CD3+ CD8+ T-cell population.