Abstract
ATYPICAL protein antigen contains several epitopes that can be recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), but in a characteristic antiviral immune response in vivo, CTL recognize only a small number of these potential epitopes, sometimes only one1–2, this phenomenon is known as immunodominance1–10. Antigenic variation within CTL epitopes has been demonstrated for the human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1 (ref. 11) and other viruses12–7 and such 'antigenic escape' may be responsible for viral persistence. Here we develop a new mathematical model that deals with the interaction between CTL and multiple epitopes of a genetically variable pathogen, and show that the nonlinear competition among CTL responses against different epitopes can explain immunodominance. This model suggests that an antigenically homogeneous pathogen population tends to induce a dominant response against a single epitope, whereas a heterogeneous pathogen population can stimulate complicated fluctuating responses against multiple epitopes. Antigenic variation in the immunodominant epitope can shift responses to weaker epitopes and thereby reduce immuno-logical control of the pathogen population. These ideas are consistent with detailed longitudinal studies of CTL responses in HIV-1 infected patients. For vaccine design, the model suggests that the major response should be directed against conserved epitopes even if they are subdominant.
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Nowak, M., May, R., Phillips, R. et al. Antigenic oscillations and shifting immunodominance in HIV-1 infections. Nature 375, 606–611 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/375606a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/375606a0
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