Sustained Specific and Cross-Reactive T Cell Responses to Zika and Dengue Virus NS3 in West Africa
Abstract
Recent studies on the role of T cells in Zika virus (ZIKV) infection have shown that T cell responses to Asian ZIKV infection are important for protection, and that previous dengue virus (DENV) exposure amplifies the protective T cell response to Asian ZIKV. Human T cell responses to African ZIKV infection, however, remain unexplored. Here, we utilized the modified anthrax toxin delivery system to develop a flavivirus enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay. Using human ZIKV and DENV samples from Senegal, West Africa, our results demonstrate specific and cross-reactive T cell responses to nonstructural protein 3 (NS3). Specifically, we found that T cell responses to NS3 protease are ZIKV and DENV specific, but responses to NS3 helicase are cross-reactive. Sequential sample analyses revealed immune responses sustained many years after infection. These results have important implications for African ZIKV/DENV vaccine development, as well as for potential flavivirus diagnostics based on T cell responses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1128/jvi.01992-17
Entities
People
- Bobby Brooke Herrera
- Charlotte A. Chang
- Donald J. Hamel
- Phyllis J. Kanki
- Souleymane Mboup
- Wei-kung Wang
- Wen-yang Tsai
- Yichen Lu
Organizations
- Harvard University
- National Institutes of Health
- United States Department of Defense
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
- Université Cheikh Anta Diop