CD8+ T cells are thought to play an important role in protective immunity to tuberculosis. The major histocompatibility complex class I subtype HLA-A*0201 is one of the most prevalent class I alleles, with a frequency of over 30% in most populations. HLA-A*0201 transgenic, H-2Db/mouse beta2-microglobulin double-knockout mice (HHD) which express human HLA-A*0201 but no mouse class I, was shown t...

BACKGROUND Immunity against the bovine protozoan parasite Theileria parva has previously been shown to be mediated through lysis of parasite-infected cells by MHC class I restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes. It is hypothesized that identification of CTL target schizont antigens will aid the development of a sub-unit vaccine. We exploited the availability of the complete genome sequence data...

DNA-based vaccines generate potent CTL responses. The mechanism of T cell stimulation has been attributed to plasmid-transfected dendritic cells. These cells have also been shown to express plasmid-encoded proteins and to become activated by surface marker up-regulation. However, the increased surface expression of CD40 and B7 on these dendritic cells is insufficient to overcome the need for MH...

Immune responses induced during the early stages of chronic viral infections are thought to influence disease outcome. Using HIV as a model, we examined virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), T helper cells, and viral genetic diversity in relation to duration of infection and subsequent response to antiviral therapy. Individuals with acute HIV-1 infection treated before seroconversion h...

Potent cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity can be derived from cultures of thymocyte responders and minor H different spleen cell stimulators. As is the case of the spleen cell response previously reported, this cytotoxic activity requires in vivo priming. We performed several experiments designed to determine whether the in vivo priming effect is due to the in situ priming of the thymocyte C...

The human high m.w.-melanoma-associated Ag (HMW-MAA) is an attractive target for the immunotherapy of melanoma, due to its relatively high expression in a high percentage of melanoma lesions and its restricted distribution in normal tissues. Active immunization with HMW-MAA mimics has been previously shown to induce a HMW-MAA-specific, T cell-dependent Ab response associated with an apparent cl...

This study documents the differential requirements of T4+ T helper cells in the induction of virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) and antibody responses during acute lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection. Two monoclonal antibodies (GK1.5 and RL172.4) directed against the L3T4 (T4) molecule were used for depleting T helper cells from mice. Depletion of T4+ cells caused a pronounced...

Effective immunity to many infectious agents, particularly viruses, requires a CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response. Understanding how to achieve CTL induction with soluble proteins is important for vaccine development since such antigens are usually not processed appropriately to induce CTL. In the present report, we have demonstrated that a potent primary CTL response against a soluble ...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) play a major role in control of viral replication. To understand the contribution of this antiviral response, an initial step is to fully define the specific epitopes targeted by CTL. These studies focused on CTL responses restricted by HLA-A*3002, one of the HLA-A molecules most prominent in African populations. To avoid...

The molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-induced immunopathology are not well defined. Using a model in which hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-specific CTL cause an acute necroinflammatory liver disease in HBsAg transgenic mice, we demonstrate that class I-restricted disease pathogenesis is an orderly, multistep process that involves direct as well a...