Bennekov Thomas, Spector David, Langhoff Erik
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State University, Hershey, USA.
Mt Sinai J Med. 2004 Mar;71(2):86-93.
Most healthy individuals have been exposed to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and harbor the virus in a dormant form. However, in situations of immune compromise, HCMV infection is associated with high mortality rates in recipients of bone marrow transplants and with significant morbidity in recipients of solid organ transplants. Conventional vaccination with attenuated HCMV or HCMV proteins fails to prime protective immune responses, presumably because the antigens fail to be presented effectively in vivo. Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells that can be genetically engineered to direct their ability to induce immune responses toward immunodominant HCMV antigens. DC are a distinct lineage of leukocytes whose function is most notable for their ability to form clusters with T cells and stimulate vigorous cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses. We hypothesize that in this capacity, DC engineered to express HCMV antigens are uniquely positioned to control immunity against HCMV.
大多数健康个体都曾接触过人巨细胞病毒（HCMV），并以潜伏形式携带该病毒。然而，在免疫功能受损的情况下，HCMV感染与骨髓移植受者的高死亡率以及实体器官移植受者的显著发病率相关。用减毒HCMV或HCMV蛋白进行传统疫苗接种未能引发保护性免疫反应，推测是因为抗原在体内未能有效呈递。树突状细胞（DC）是专业的抗原呈递细胞，可以通过基因工程改造来引导其诱导针对免疫显性HCMV抗原的免疫反应的能力。DC是白细胞的一个独特谱系，其功能最显著的特点是能够与T细胞形成簇并刺激强烈的细胞毒性T淋巴细胞反应。我们假设，以这种能力，经基因工程改造表达HCMV抗原的DC在控制针对HCMV的免疫方面具有独特的地位。
