Epitope-specific TCR beta repertoire diversity imparts no functional advantage on the CD8( ) T cell response to cognate viral peptides

Abstract

TCR repertoire diversity has been convincingly shown to facilitate responsiveness of CD8+ T cell populations to mutant virus peptides, thereby safeguarding against viral escape. However, the impact of repertoire diversity on the functionality of the CD8+ T cell response to cognate peptide-MHC class I complex (pMHC) recognition remains unclear. Here, we have compared TCRbeta chain repertoires of three influenza A epitope-specific CD8+ T cell responses in C57BL/6 (B6) mice: D(b)NP(366-374), D(b)PA(224-233), and a recently described epitope derived from the +1 reading frame of the influenza viral polymerase B subunit (residues 62-70) (D(b)PB1-F2(62)). Corresponding to the relative antigenicity ..