Fig. 4

TG-VZV reactive CD8 T-cells recognize an HSV/VZV cross-reactive epitope in an HLA-A*01:01-dependent manner. A IFNγ secretion by TG04-derived T-cells following incubation with Cos-7 cells transfected with the indicated subject-specific HLA class I allele together with an empty control vector (−) or a vector encoding VZV ORF29 (+). B Schematic of VZV ORF29 fragments used in (C) to map the T-cell epitope. Numbers indicate amino acid positions. C ELISA showing IFNγ secretion by TG04-derived T-cells following incubation with Cos-7 cells transfected with HLA-A*01:01 and an empty control vector (−) or vectors encoding the indicated VZV ORF29 fragments from (B). D IFNγ production by TG04-derived T-cells following coculture with Cos-7 cells transfected without (−) or with (+) HLA-A*01:01 and pulsed with the indicated ORF29 peptides or DMSO as a negative control (−). E Alignment of the VZV ORF29 epitope-containing region of VZV ORF29 with the homologous regions of HSV-1 UL29 and HSV-2 UL29 (underlined). Amino acid in bold differ between VZV, HSV-1, and HSV-2. Numbers indicate amino acid positions in the respective proteins. F IFNγ secretion by TG04-derived T-cells following co-culture with Cos-7 cells transfected to express the indicated HLA class I alleles in combination with either an empty control vector or vectors encoding full-length HSV-1 UL29 or HSV-2 UL29. Data are presented as the individual (circles) and mean (bars) OD₄₅₀ values of 2 (A, C, F) or 3 (D) independent replicates