Herpes Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Herpes, including details on herpes simplex virus (hsv), genital, oral, symptoms, treatment. | ||||||||
|
Virus-specific CD8+ T cells accumulate near sensory nerve endings in genital skin during subclinical HSV-2 reactivation.Zhu J, Koelle DM, Cao J, Vazquez J, Huang ML, Hladik F, Wald A, Corey L Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells play a critical role in controlling herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection and reactivation. However, little is known about the spatiotemporal dynamics of CD8(+) T cells during HSV lesion evolution or about their involvement in immune surveillance after lesion resolution. Using quantum dot-conjugated peptide-major histocompatibility complex multimers, we investigated the in vivo localization of HSV-2-specific CD8(+) T cells in sequential biopsies of human genital skin during acute, resolving, and healed stages of HSV-2 reactivation. Our studies revealed that functionally active CD8(+) T cells selectively infiltrated to the site of viral reactivation. After lesion healing in concert with complete reepithelialization and loss of HSV DNA from skin biopsies, HSV-2-specific CD8(+) T cells persisted for more than two months at the dermal-epidermal junction, adjacent to peripheral nerve endings. In two out of the six sequentially studied individuals, HSV-2 DNA reappeared in clinically and histologically normal-appearing skin. Detection of viral DNA was accompanied by increased numbers of both HSV-specific and total CD8(+) T cells in the dermis. These findings indicate that the frequency and clinical course of HSV-2 reactivation in humans is influenced by virus-specific CD8(+) T cells that persist in peripheral mucosa and genital skin after resolution of herpes lesions. Published 20 March 2007 in J Exp Med, 204(3): 595-603.
© 2004-2008 Herpes Research Today. All Rights Reserved. |
| ||||||
