Effects of vaccine-acquired polyclonal anti-HBs antibodies on the prevention of HBV infection of non-vaccine genotypes.

Background: In universal hepatitis B (HB) vaccination, single vaccine-derived polyclonal anti-HBs antibodies (anti-HBs) need to inhibit infection of HB viruses (HBV) of non-vaccine genotypes. We experimentally addressed this issue.

Methods: Anti-HBs-positive sera were obtained by vaccination with genotype A- or C-derived HBs antigen (HBsAg, gtA-sera or gtC-sera).

HTLV-I env protein acts as a major antigen in patients with HTLV-I-associated arthropathy.

Our objective was to investigate the pathological mechanisms of HTLV-I (human T-cell leukemia virus type I)-associated chronic arthritis (HAAP) with respect to T-cell response to HTLV-I viral proteins. We examined T-cell clonality and the antigen recognized by T cells from the inflamed synovium of patients with HAAP by using histology, a single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing. The SSCP analysis showed oligoclonal expansion of T cells in the synovium, suggesting an antigen-mediated stimulation.

Autoantibodies to CD69 in patients with chronic hepatitis type C: a candidate marker for predicting the response to interferon therapy.

Objective: To understand the autoimmunity associated with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), we investigated autoantibodies (autoAbs) to CD69.

Methods: With this aim, we tested the reactivity of serum samples from patients with CHC and asymptomatic carriers of hepatitis C virus (HCV), as well as from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), to recombinant CD69 molecules.

Results: Frequencies of anti-CD69 autoAbs were 38.

Expression of MHC class I molecules together with antigenic peptides on filamentous phages.

The availability of combinatorial T cell epitope libraries made using a phage display system would be useful for identifying the antigens recognized by T cells of unknown specificity. To this end, we have investigated here whether single chain-MHC class I molecules (scMHC-I) could be expressed together with antigenic peptides on filamentous phages. The results show that filamentous phages can express scMHC-I.