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Infection and Immunity, June 2001, p. 3728-3736, Vol. 69, No. 6
Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia
Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
Received 22 November 2000/Returned for modification 10 January
2001/Accepted 23 February 2001
T-cell-mediated immunity is known to play a central role in the
host response to Candida albicans. T-cell clones are
useful tools for the exact identification of fungal T-cell epitopes and the processing requirements of C. albicans antigens. We
isolated human T-cell clones from an HLA-DRB1*1101 healthy donor by
using an antigenic extract (MP-F2) of the fungus. Specific clones were T-cell receptor
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.6.3728-3736.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Antigenic Properties and Processing Requirements of 65-Kilodalton
Mannoprotein, a Major Antigen Target of Anti-Candida
Human T-Cell Response, as Disclosed by Specific Human T-Cell
Clones
/
and CD4+/CD8
and showed a T-helper type 1 cytokine profile (production of gamma interferon and not interleukin-4). The large majority of these
clones recognized both the natural (highly glycosylated) and the
recombinant (nonglycosylated) 65-kDa mannoprotein (MP65), an MP-F2
minor constituent that was confirmed to be an immunodominant antigen of
the human T-cell response. Surprisingly, most of the clones recognized
two synthetic peptides of different MP65 regions. However, the peptides
shared the amino acid motif IXSXIXXL, which may be envisaged as
a motif sequence representing the minimal epitope recognized by these
clones. Three clones recognized natural and pronase-treated MP65 but
did not detect nonglycosylated, recombinant MP65 or the peptides,
suggesting a possible role for polysaccharides in T-cell recognition of
C. albicans. Finally, lymphoblastoid B-cell lines were
efficient antigen-presenting cells (APC) for recombinant MP65 and
peptides but failed to present natural, glycosylated antigens,
suggesting that nonprofessional APC might be defective in processing
highly glycosylated yeast proteins. In conclusion, this study provides
the first characterization of C. albicans-specific human
T-cell clones and provides new clues for the definition of the cellular
immune response against C. albicans.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratorio di
Batteriologia e Micologia Medica, Istituto Superiore di Sanità,
Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. Phone: 39 06 4990 2659. Fax: 39 06 4938 7112. E-mail: r.nisini{at}iss.it.
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