Background: This study aimed to comprehensively define the breadth and specificity of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV)-specific T-cell response in patients at different stages of chronic coinfection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods: Following in vitro stimulation with an overlapping set of 21 HDV-specific 20mer peptides and exogenous interleukin 2, HDV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses of 32 HDV-infected patients were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunospot analysis and intracellular cytokine staining for interferon γ production at the single-peptide level. Additionally, HLA-binding studies were performed both in silico and in vitro. Results: We were able to detect ≥1 T-cell response in >50% our patients. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between the breadth of the response in patients positive and those negative for HDV by PCR. HDV-specific T-cell responses focused on 3 distinct HDV-specific epitopes that were each detected in 12%-21% of patients-2 HLA class II-restricted epitopes (amino acids 11-30 and 41-60) and 1 major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted epitope (amino acids 191-210). In in vitro HLA-binding assays, the 2 CD4+ T-cell specificities (amino acids 11-30 and 41-60) showed promiscuous binding to multiple HLA-DR molecules. Conclusions: This comprehensive characterization of HDV T-cell epitopes provides important information that will facilitate further studies of HDV immunopathogenesis.

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乐备实是国内专注于提供高质量蛋白检测以及组学分析服务的实验服务专家，自2018年成立以来，乐备实不断寻求突破，公司的服务技术平台已扩展到单细胞测序、空间多组学、流式检测、超敏电化学发光、Luminex多因子检测、抗体芯片、PCR Array、ELISA、Elispot、PLA蛋白互作、多色免疫组化、DSP空间多组学等30多个，建立起了一套涵盖基因、蛋白、细胞以及组织水平实验的完整检测体系。

 
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