Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease
Abstract Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne alphavirus, causes acute febrile illness that can progress into chronic arthritis-like disease (CHIKVD) in humans. CD4+ T cells have important functions in CHIKV infection, yet the CHIKV target proteins for these CD4 + T cells are poorly character...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60862-7 |
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| author | Rimjhim Agarwal Calvin Ha Fernanda H. Côrtes Yeji Lee Amparo Martínez-Pérez Rosa Isela Gálvez Izabella N. Castillo Elizabeth J. Phillips Simon A. Mallal Angel Balmaseda Eva Harris Claudia M. Romero-Vivas Lakshmanane Premkumar Andrew K. Falconar Alba Grifoni Alessandro Sette Daniela Weiskopf |
| author_facet | Rimjhim Agarwal Calvin Ha Fernanda H. Côrtes Yeji Lee Amparo Martínez-Pérez Rosa Isela Gálvez Izabella N. Castillo Elizabeth J. Phillips Simon A. Mallal Angel Balmaseda Eva Harris Claudia M. Romero-Vivas Lakshmanane Premkumar Andrew K. Falconar Alba Grifoni Alessandro Sette Daniela Weiskopf |
| author_sort | Rimjhim Agarwal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne alphavirus, causes acute febrile illness that can progress into chronic arthritis-like disease (CHIKVD) in humans. CD4+ T cells have important functions in CHIKV infection, yet the CHIKV target proteins for these CD4 + T cells are poorly characterized. Here, by stimulating PBMCs collected from individuals with chronic CHIKVD with peptides spanning the entire CHIKV proteome, we provide a comprehensive landscape of CHIKV CD4+ T cell epitopes. We identify three immunodominant regions and associated core motifs in CHIKV E1, nsP1 and CP proteins. In addition, by in silico assessment of the sequence conservation of CHIKV proteome with closely related alphaviruses, we define CHIKV epitopes conserved across arthritogenic and encephalitic viruses. Overall, our work describes CD4+ T cell targets of CHIKV in humans, thereby assisting in studying the functions of CD4+ T cells in CHIKV pathogenesis and vaccine design. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-582e51b00a8543b6b8a4b4db399f1014 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-582e51b00a8543b6b8a4b4db399f10142025-08-20T03:37:37ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116111410.1038/s41467-025-60862-7Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya diseaseRimjhim Agarwal0Calvin Ha1Fernanda H. Côrtes2Yeji Lee3Amparo Martínez-Pérez4Rosa Isela Gálvez5Izabella N. Castillo6Elizabeth J. Phillips7Simon A. Mallal8Angel Balmaseda9Eva Harris10Claudia M. Romero-Vivas11Lakshmanane Premkumar12Andrew K. Falconar13Alba Grifoni14Alessandro Sette15Daniela Weiskopf16Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina School of MedicineInstitute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch UniversityInstitute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch UniversitySustainable Sciences InstituteDivision of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, University of California, BerkeleyLaboratorio de Enfermedades Tropicales, Departamento de Medicina, Fundación Universidad del NorteDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina School of MedicineLaboratorio de Enfermedades Tropicales, Departamento de Medicina, Fundación Universidad del NorteCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Center for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)Abstract Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne alphavirus, causes acute febrile illness that can progress into chronic arthritis-like disease (CHIKVD) in humans. CD4+ T cells have important functions in CHIKV infection, yet the CHIKV target proteins for these CD4 + T cells are poorly characterized. Here, by stimulating PBMCs collected from individuals with chronic CHIKVD with peptides spanning the entire CHIKV proteome, we provide a comprehensive landscape of CHIKV CD4+ T cell epitopes. We identify three immunodominant regions and associated core motifs in CHIKV E1, nsP1 and CP proteins. In addition, by in silico assessment of the sequence conservation of CHIKV proteome with closely related alphaviruses, we define CHIKV epitopes conserved across arthritogenic and encephalitic viruses. Overall, our work describes CD4+ T cell targets of CHIKV in humans, thereby assisting in studying the functions of CD4+ T cells in CHIKV pathogenesis and vaccine design.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60862-7 |
| spellingShingle | Rimjhim Agarwal Calvin Ha Fernanda H. Côrtes Yeji Lee Amparo Martínez-Pérez Rosa Isela Gálvez Izabella N. Castillo Elizabeth J. Phillips Simon A. Mallal Angel Balmaseda Eva Harris Claudia M. Romero-Vivas Lakshmanane Premkumar Andrew K. Falconar Alba Grifoni Alessandro Sette Daniela Weiskopf Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease Nature Communications |
| title | Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease |
| title_full | Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease |
| title_fullStr | Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease |
| title_short | Identification of immunogenic and cross-reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for CD4+ T cells in chronic chikungunya disease |
| title_sort | identification of immunogenic and cross reactive chikungunya virus epitopes for cd4 t cells in chronic chikungunya disease |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60862-7 |
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