Characteristics of Norovirus capsid protein-specific CD8⁺ T-Cell responses in previously infected individuals

ABSTRACT

Norovirus (NV) infection causes acute gastroenteritis in children and adults. Upon infection with NV, specific CD8⁺ T cells, which play an important role in anti-infective immunity, are activated in the host. Owing to the NV’s wide genotypic variability, it is challenging to develop vaccines with cross-protective abilities against infection. To aid effective vaccine development, we examined specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses towards viral-structural protein (VP) epitopes, which enable binding to host susceptibility receptors. We isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 196 participants to screen and identify predominant core peptides towards NV main and small envelope proteins using ex vivo and in vitro intracellular cytokine staining assays. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) restriction characteristics were detected using next-generation sequencing. Three conservative immunodominant VP-derived CD8⁺ T-cell epitopes, VP2_94–102 (TDAARGAIN), VP2_153–161 (RGPSNKSSN), and VP1_141–148 (FPHIIVDV), were identified and restrictively presented by HLA-Cw * 0102, HLA-Cw * 0702, and HLA-A *1101 alleles, separately. Our findings provide useful insights into the development of future vaccines and treatments for NV infection.

KEYWORDS:

• Viral capsid protein
• immunodominant epitopes
• HLA-I-restricted characteristics
• NV-specific CD8⁺ T-cells

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all members of the Laboratory Medicine Department for their helpful assistance. We would also like to thank Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

Study concept and design: Taojun He, Bin Li, Chao Wu;

Funding acquisition: Taojun He, Chao Wu;

Acquisition of data: Yilin Deng, Fang Zhang, Jin Zhang, Luhong Zhu;

Analysis and interpretation: Qinjin Wang, Jie Ning, Hui Wu, Hanmei Yuan;

Draft the manuscript and preliminary revise: Taojun He, Bin Li;

Study supervision: Bin Li, Chao Wu;

Final approval: Taojun He, Yilin Deng, Fang Zhang, Jin Zhang, Luhong Zhu, Qinjin Wang, Jie Ning, Hui Wu, Hanmei Yuan, Bin Li, Chao Wu.

Data availability statement

The Data generated during the current study is available at repository name “Characteristics of Norovirus Capsid Protein-Specific CD8+ T-Cell Responses in Previously Infected Individuals” at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/6K7AFF.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2024.2360133

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China under Grant 82002145; the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission under Grant JCYJ20190808102415037; and the Futian Healthcare Research Project under Grant FTWS2020018. The funders had no involvement in the study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; writing of the paper; or decision to submit the paper for publication.