Skip to main content
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1977 Sep 1;146(3):893–898. doi: 10.1084/jem.146.3.893

Hemagglutinin-specific cytotoxic T-cell response during influenza infection

PMCID: PMC2180793  PMID: 302310

Abstract

Specific cytotoxic thymus-derived (T) lymphocytes were detected in the cervical lymph nodes and spleen during influenza infection of mice. The cytotoxic T cells can distinguish target cells infected with different influenza A subtypes. Infection with parent viruses and their recombinant progeny possessing the hemagglutinin of one parent and the neuraminidase of the other demonstrated that significant cytotoxicity occurred only when the hemagglutinin of the immunizing viruses was the same as that of the virus used to infect the target cell. In addition to this specific cytotoxic response to the major surface antigen, a cross-reactive response could be detected when the relatively nonpermissive L cell was used as the target cell. These results indicate there is a specific cytotoxic T-cell response to the surface hemagglutinin, and a cross-reactive cytotoxic response, not directed to the hemagglutinin, during influenza infection. The cytotoxic T-cell response specific for the hemagglutinin antigen may play an important role in in vivo immunity to influenza.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (444.6 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Doherty P. C., Effros R. B., Bennink J. Heterogeneity of the cytotoxic response of thymus-derived lymphocytes after immunization with influenza viruses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Mar;74(3):1209–1213. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.3.1209. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Effros R. B., Doherty P. C., Gerhard W., Bennink J. Generation of both cross-reactive and virus-specific T-cell populations after immunization with serologically distinct influenza A viruses. J Exp Med. 1977 Mar 1;145(3):557–568. doi: 10.1084/jem.145.3.557. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES