Clonal expansions of CD8⁺ T cells in latently HSV-1-infected human trigeminal ganglia.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 latency in trigeminal ganglia (TG) is accompanied by a chronic immune cell infiltration. The aim of this study was to analyse the T-cell receptor β-chain repertoire in latently HSV-1 infected human TG. Using complementarity-determining region 3 spectratyping, 74 expanded β-chain sequences were identified in five TG. No clone appeared in more than one subject. Similar clones were present in the right and the left TG of two subjects. This indicates that these T cells are primed in the periphery and recognise the same antigen in the TG of both sides.