HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Muir, S. Articles by Scraba, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Muir, S. Articles by Scraba, D. Agricola Articles by Muir, S. Articles by Scraba, D.

Identification of Mengo Virus T Helper Cell Epitopes

Susie Muir^1,

¹ Department of Molecular Biology, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road Research Institute Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California 92037, U.S.A.
and² Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H7, Canada

To identify Mengo virus-specific T cell epitopes in mice (the natural host for the virus), lymph node cells were obtained from BALB/c (H-2^d) mice, previously immunized with u.v.-inactivated virus, and stimulated in vitro with each of 116 overlapping peptides (10 to 18 residues long) covering the entire capsid coding region (834 amino acids). T cell epitopes were defined on the basis of specific peptide-induced lymphocyte proliferation. Where proliferation occurred, immunological characterization showed that it was the CD4⁺ T helper (T_h) cell subpopulation that was responsible for the Mengo virus-specific response. Surprisingly, no Mengo virus T_h cell epitopes were found in capsid protein VP1 or VP4. Six peptides in VP2 (residues 1 to 15, 99 to 108, 118 to 132, 133 to 147, 227 to 236 and 247 to 256) identified the positions of separate T_h cell epitopes, and two overlapping peptides (residues 173 to 182 and 178 to 192) defined an additional T_h cell immunogenic sequence. Three individual peptides in VP3 (residues 46 to 58, 136 to 150 and 198 to 212) and two overlapping peptides (residues 1 to 15 and 11 to 20) also represent T_h cell epitopes. Similar assays with C57BL/6 (H-2^b) and SJL/J (H-2^s) mice showed that the pattern of recognition of these peptides was H-2 restricted. Each of the previously identified sites of B cell antigenicity in VP2 and VP3 are associated with one T_h epitope. Comparison of the experimentally determined T_h epitopes with potential T cell epitopes identified by several predictive strategies revealed only a low correlation between authentic and predicted epitopes.

Present address: University of Southern California School of Medicine, 1975 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90033, U.S.A.

Received 5 April 1994; accepted 15 June 1994.