Lack of immunodominance in the T cell response to herpes simplex virus glycoprotein D after administration of infectious virus

Glycoprotein D (gD) of HSV has been shown to be a potent immunogen. To analyze the T cell antigenic determinants on gD, a series of 28 overlapping 20-mer peptides that span the extracellular portion of gD-1 were examined for their ability to stimulate T cells from rgD-1 or infectious HSV-1-primed H-2d mice in vitro. rgD-1-primed cells responded exclusively to peptide 241-260, the immunodominant determinant of gD in H-2d mice. In contrast, infectious HSV-primed T cells were shown to respond to 17 (and up to 22) of 28 synthetic gD peptides. These results indicate an extensive diversity in the T cell repertoire to gD in H-2d mice with T cells directed to a broad array of peptide determinants being recruited during the acute phase of an HSV infection.