Oral Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2014

Helping the helpers: Boosting cellular immunity to influenza A virus infection (#67)

Matthew R Olson 1 , Shirley G.K. Seah 2 , Kathyrn Edenborough 3 , Peter C Doherty 3 , Andrew M Lew 2 , Stephen J Turner 3
  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
  2. Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  3. Microbiology and Immunology, Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
While CD4+ T cell help (TH) is critical for inducing optimal B cell and CD8+ T cell responses, it remains unclear whether induction of CD4+ TH responses after infection, are also dependent on CD4+ T cell help.  Here we show that activation of adoptively transferred TH cells during primary influenza A virus (IAV) infection enhances both the magnitude and functional breadth of endogenous primary IAV-specific CD4+ T cell responses. This enhancement was dependent on CD154-CD40 dependent DC licensing and resulted in a greater recall capacity of IAV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T memory responses after heterologous IAV infection. These data suggest that engaging pre-existing CD4 responses at the time of priming maybe a strategy for improving cellular immunity after vaccination.