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T cells and viral persistence: lessons from diverse infections

Abstract

Persistent virus infections create specific problems for their hosts. Although the dynamics of immune responses after acute infection are well studied and very consistent, especially in mouse models, the patterns of responses noted during persistent infection are more complex and differ depending on the infection. In particular, CD8+ T cell responses differ widely in quantity and quality. In this review we examine these diverse responses and ask how they may arise; in particular, we discuss the function of antigen re-encounter and the CD4+ T cell responses to and the escape strategies of specific viruses. We focus on studies of four main human pathogens, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus, and their animal models.

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Figure 1: An 'antigen re-encounter' model linking T cell responses to various persistent viruses.
Figure 2: Function and phenotype of CD4+ T cells in persistent infection.
Figure 3: Relating T cell responses to escape strategies.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Sierro, P. Goulder, N. Semmo, K. Cho and S. Ward for comments. Supported by the Wellcome trust, the European Union (VIRGIL network), the James Martin School of the 21st Century, Oxford, and the National Institutes of Health (AI47206).

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Klenerman, P., Hill, A. T cells and viral persistence: lessons from diverse infections. Nat Immunol 6, 873–879 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni1241

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