The CD8+ T-cell response to an Epstein-Barr virus-related gammaherpesvirus infecting rhesus macaques provides evidence for immune evasion by the EBNA-1 homologue.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection persists for life in humans, similar to other gammaherpesviruses in the same lymphocryptovirus (LCV) genus that naturally infect Old World nonhuman primates. The specific immune elements required for control of EBV infection and potential immune evasion strategies essential for persistent EBV infection are not well defined. We evaluated the cellular immune response to latent infection proteins in rhesus macaques with naturally and experimentally acquired rhesus LCV (rhLCV) infection. RhLCV EBNA-1 (rhEBNA-1) was the most frequently targeted latent infection protein and induced the most robust responses by peripheral blood mononuclear cells tested ex vivo using the gamma interferon ELISPOT assay. In contrast, although in vitro stimulation and expansion of rhLCV-specific T lymphocytes demonstrated cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity against autologous rhLCV-infected B cells, rhEBNA-1-specific CTL activity could not be detected. rhEBNA-1 CTL epitopes were identified and demonstrated that rhEBNA-1-specific CTL were stimulated and expanded in vitro but did not lyse targets expressing rhEBNA-1. Similarly, rhEBNA-1-specific CTL clones were able to lyse targets pulsed with rhEBNA-1 peptides or expressing rhEBNA-1 deleted for the glycine-alanine repeat (GAR) but not full-length rhEBNA-1 or rhLCV-infected B cells. These studies show that the rhLCV-specific immune response to latent infection proteins is similar to the EBV response in humans, and a potential immune evasion mechanism for EBNA-1 has been conserved in rhLCV. Thus, the rhLCV animal model can be used to analyze the immune responses important for control of persistent LCV infection and the role of the EBNA-1 GAR for immune evasion in vivo.