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Review
. 2022 Jan 25;14(2):242.
doi: 10.3390/v14020242.

Current Understanding of the Role of T Cells in Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika Infections

Affiliations
Review

Current Understanding of the Role of T Cells in Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika Infections

Maheshi Mapalagamage et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Arboviral infections such as Chikungunya (CHIKV), Dengue (DENV) and Zika (ZIKV) are a major disease burden in tropical and sub-tropical countries, and there are no effective vaccinations or therapeutic drugs available at this time. Understanding the role of the T cell response is very important when designing effective vaccines. Currently, comprehensive identification of T cell epitopes during a DENV infection shows that CD8 and CD4 T cells and their specific phenotypes play protective and pathogenic roles. The protective role of CD8 T cells in DENV is carried out through the killing of infected cells and the production of proinflammatory cytokines, as CD4 T cells enhance B cell and CD8 T cell activities. A limited number of studies attempted to identify the involvement of T cells in CHIKV and ZIKV infection. The identification of human immunodominant ZIKV viral epitopes responsive to specific T cells is scarce, and none have been identified for CHIKV. In CHIKV infection, CD8 T cells are activated during the acute phase in the lymph nodes/blood, and CD4 T cells are activated during the chronic phase in the joints/muscles. Studies on the role of T cells in ZIKV-neuropathogenesis are limited and need to be explored. Many studies have shown the modulating actions of T cells due to cross-reactivity between DENV-ZIKV co-infections and have repeated heterologous/homologous DENV infection, which is an important factor to consider when developing an effective vaccine.

Keywords: CD4 T cells; CD8 T cells; Chikungunya; Dengue; T cell epitopes; Zika; cross-reactivity; vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Global distribution of CHIKV, DENV and ZIKV infections. This map shows the global transmission of CHIKV, DENV and ZIKV. The map was created using the free online tool (https://mapchart.net/detworld.html; accessed on 17 December 2021) and inspired by [2]. The figure was created based on the data provide be following websites (accessed on 17 December 2021): https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/areaswithrisk/around-the-world.html; https://www.gov.uk/guidance/zika-virus-country-specific-risk#atoz; https://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/geo/index.html.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of immunodominant T cell epitopes against dengue (DENV) and Zika viruses (ZIKV). Data were retrieved from the IEDB (on 30 November 2021) corresponding to the HLA restriction (HLA class I: inner circle, HLA II: outer circle) and protein region.
Figure 3
Figure 3
T cell response to CHIKV in acute and chronic infection.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The dual role of T cells in flavivirus infection.

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