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Do carbohydrate antigens stimulate human T cells?
Author(s) -
Emmrich FRANK
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1990.tb00994.x
Subject(s) - antigen , epitope , immune system , biology , carbohydrate , t cell receptor , antibody , t cell , major histocompatibility complex , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , immunology , biochemistry
T cells fail to recognize free antigenic determinants. What the T‐cell receptor recognizes is a complex consisting of a peptide fragment cleaved from antigen and self‐MHC structures on the surface of antigen‐presenting cells. While extensively investigated with protein antigens, only limited information is available on the capability of T cells to recognize carbohydrate antigens in a specific way. Therefore, we have investigated the specificity of human T‐cell lines and clones reactive to streptococcal A (Strep A) vaccine. It was found that neither soluble streptococcal A carbohydrate (A‐CHO) nor synthetic oligosaccharides deduced from bacterial carbohydrates could stimulate Strep A‐reactive T cells, although A‐CHO stimulates specific antibody production in B cells very effectively. In conclusion, Strep A‐specific T cells seem to recognize other structures of the bacterial vaccine than A‐CHO. This was confirmed by retained stimulation after removal of carbohydrate epitopes by periodate treatment. Such Strep A‐reactive T cells are frequently (> 10 −3 ) found in CD4 + T cells of healthy donors. Implications of this finding with regard to anti‐carbohydrate immune responses are discussed.