In article <7vub1d$bm2$1 at news.net.uni-c.dk>,
Morten Lindow <lindow at mdb.ku.dk> wrote:
>>The question is: What happens if a virus doesn't infect APCs? Say it is
>specific for epithelial cells. How does viral peptides then end up on
>class I molecules on APCs? I figure that APCs could phagocytise free viral
>particles, but wouldn't that result in presentation on class II MHCs?
An excellent question, actually. The answer is not particularly
intuitive, and certainly won't be in your textbook, because it was just
published earlier this year:
Nature 1999 Mar 4;398(6722):77-80
Cytotoxic T-cell immunity to virus-infected non-haematopoietic cells
requires presentation of exogenous antigen.
Sigal LJ, Crotty S, Andino R, Rock KL
The short explanation is that APC can phagocytose particulate antigen and
present it on MHC class I. The molecular details of this aren't clear,
but the observation is.
Ian
--
Ian York (iayork at panix.com) <http://www.panix.com/~iayork/>
"-but as he was a York, I am rather inclined to suppose him a
very respectable Man." -Jane Austen, The History of England
