Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39432795›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2024

CD4 T cells restricted to DRB1*15:01 recognize two Epstein-Barr virus glycoproteins capable of intracellular antigen presentation.

Natalia Drosu, Monique Anderson, Philippe A Bilodeau, Shuhei Nishiyama, Takahisa Mikami, Natasha Bobrowski-Khoury, Jackson Cabot, David Housman, Michael Levy

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. CD4Science translational medicine · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Optimal murine CD4Nature communications · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Antibody reactivity against EBNA1 and GlialCAM differentiates multiple sclerosis patients from healthy controls.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Natalia DrosuDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.
Monique AndersonDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.
Philippe A BilodeauDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.ORCID 0000-0002-2672-554X
Shuhei NishiyamaDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.ORCID 0000-0002-0248-1595
Takahisa MikamiDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.
Natasha Bobrowski-KhouryDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.
Jackson CabotDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.
David HousmanDepartment of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.ORCID 0000-0001-5016-0756
Michael LevyDepartment of Neurology, Division of Neuroimmunology & Neuroinfectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.ORCID 0000-0002-7969-8346

Funding

National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) 2022A011428
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. Infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the strongest environmental risk factor, and HLA-DR15 is the strongest genetic risk factor for MS. We employed computational methods and in vitro assays for CD4 T cell activation to investigate the DR15-restricted response to EBV. Using a machine learning-based HLA ligand predictor, the EBV glycoprotein B (gB) was predicted to be enriched in epitopes restricted to presentation by DRB1*15:01. In DR15-positive individuals, two epitopes comprised the major CD4 T cell response to gB. Surprisingly, the expression of recombinant gB in a DR15-homozygous B cell line or primary autologous B cells elicited a CD4 T cell response, indicating that intracellular gB was loaded onto HLA class II molecules. By deleting the signal sequence of gB, we determined that this pathway for direct activation of CD4 T cells was dependent on trafficking to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) within the B cell. We screened seven recombinant EBV antigens from the ER compartment for immune responses in DR15-negative vs. DR15-homozygous individuals. In addition to gB, gH was a key CD4 T cell target in individuals homozygous for DR15. Compared to non-DR15 controls, DR15-homozygotes had significantly higher T cell responses to both gB and gH but not to EBV latent or lytic antigens overall. Responses to gB and gH were slightly elevated in DR15 homozygotes with MS. Our results link MS environmental and genetic risk factors by demonstrating that HLA-DR15 dictates CD4 T cell immunity to EBV antigens.

Indexed as

Antigen PresentationCD4-Positive T-LymphocytesHerpesvirus 4, HumanHLA-DRB1 ChainsB-LymphocytesEndoplasmic ReticulumEpitopes, T-LymphocyteEpstein-Barr Virus InfectionsGlycoproteinsHumansLymphocyte ActivationMultiple SclerosisEpitopes, T-LymphocyteGlycoproteinsHLA-DRB1*15:01 antigenHLA-DRB1 ChainsantiviralsEpstein–Barr virusHLA-DR15multiple sclerosis

Identifiers

PMID39432795
PMCPMC11536159

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.