C lass I MHC-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) have been demonstrated to have potent antiviral activity both in vitro and in vivo (1-3). It is therefore not surprising that viruses have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to escape the effects of CTL. Almost by definition, a persistent virus is one that has evolved some mechanism for avoiding the CTL response of the host. In most persistent...

A very important question in immunology is to determine which factors decide whether an immune response can efficiently clear or control a viral infection, and under what circumstances we observe persistent viral replication and pathology. This paper summarizes how mathematical models help us gain new insights into these questions, and explores the relationship between antiviral therapy and lon...

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) appear to play an important role in the control of virus replication and in protection against HCMV-related disease. We have previously reported high frequencies of memory CTL precursors (CTLp) specific to the HCMV tegument protein pp65 in the peripheral blood of healthy virus carriers. In some individuals, the CTL respo...

Numerous virus-specific, class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes have been identified, yet little information is available regarding the specificity of the CTL response in persons of the same human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) type. In this study, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1 envelope-specific CTL response was evaluated in five HLA-B14-positive persons...

Human T-cell leukaemia virus type I (HTLV-I) preferentially infects the CD4 T cells. The HTLV-I infection causes a strong HTLV-I specific immune response from CD8 cytotoxic T cells (CTLs). The persistent cytotoxicity of the CTL is believed to contribute to the development of a progressive neurologic disease, HTLV-I associatedmyelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). We investigate the ...

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Env-, Gag-, Pol-, Nef-, and Tat-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activities were quantitated temporally in five patients with symptomatic primary HIV-1 infection. A dominant CD8(+)-mediated, major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted CTL response to the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein, gp160, was noted in four of the five patients studied. T...

Infection of C57BL/6 mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) stimulates major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), which normally resolve the infection. Three peptide epitopes derived from LCMV have been shown to bind the mouse class I molecule H-2 Db and to stimulate CTL responses in LCMV-infected mice. This report describes the identity and abund...

HIV-1 escape from surveillance by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is thought to cause at least transient weakening of immune control. However, the CTL response is highly adaptable and the long-term consequences of viral escape are not fully understood. The objective of this study was to address the question "to what extent does HIV-1 escape from CTL contribute to HLA-associated AIDS progression?"...

Spleen cells from mice treated with cyclophosphamide (150 mg/kg) and cultured at suboptimal concentrations do not generate a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to allogeneic tumor cells. The reduced response of spleen cells from cyclophosphamide-treated mice is not due to the elimination of CTL precursors because normal responses are obtained by the addition of a helper factor(s) derived fro...

Spleen cells from mice treated with Cyclophosphamide (150 mg/kg) and cultured at suboptimal concentrations do not gen erate a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to allogeneic tumor cells. The reduced response of spleen cells from cyclophosphamide-treated mice is not due to the elimination of CTL precursors because normal responses are obtained by the addition of a helper factor(s) derived fr...