T cell therapy of human CMV and EBV infection in immunocompromised hosts

✍ Scribed by Stanley R. Riddell; Philip D. Greenberg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 142 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1052-9276
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1654(199709)7:3<181::aid-rmv200>3.0.co;2-w

✦ Synopsis

Acute virus infections in normal hosts are typically controlled by the development of a host immune response that includes MHC-restricted virus-specific T cells. Many viruses have developed methods to evade T cell recognition to facilitate initial infection and the establishment of a persistent infection in the host. Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are ubiquitous human pathogens that utilise novel strategies to evade immune elimination. Despite these evasion methods, CD4 + and CD8 + T cells expressing T cell receptors have been shown to play a pivotal role in controlling initial infection and in maintaining CMV and EBV in a latent state. However, in settings of iatrogenic or acquired T cell deficiency, primary infection or reactivation of CMV and EBV frequently progresses to cause life threatening disease. In this article the role of MHC-restricted CD8 + and CD4 + T cell responses in controlling CMV and EBV infections in healthy individuals and the development of novel strategies to restore protective T cell immunity to deficient hosts by the adoptive transfer of virus-specific T cells is reviewed. 1997 by