Allo-HLA Cross-Reactivities of Cytomegalovirus-, Influenza-, and Varicella Zoster Virus-Specific Memory T Cells Are Shared by Different Healthy Individuals

Virus-specific T cells can recognize allogeneic HLA (allo-HLA) through TCR cross-reactivity. The allospecificity often differs by individual (private cross-reactivity) but also can be shared by multiple individuals (public cross-reactivity); however, only a few examples of the latter have been described. Because these could facilitate alloreactivity prediction in transplantation, we aimed to identify novel public cross-reactivities of human virus-specific CD8⁺ T cells directed against allo-HLA by assessing their reactivity in mixed-lymphocyte reactions. Further characterization was done by studying TCR usage with primer-based DNA Sequencing, cytokine production with ELISAs, and cytotoxicity with ⁵¹ chromium-release assays. We identified three novel public allo-HLA cross-reactivities of human virus-specific CD8⁺ T cells. CMV B35/IPS CD8⁺ T cells cross-reacted with HLA-B51 and/or HLA-B58/B57 (23% of tetramer-positive individuals), FLU A2/GIL (influenza IMP[58-66] HLA-A*02:01/GILGFVFTL) CD8⁺ T cells with HLA-B38 (90% of tetramer-positive individuals), and VZV A2/ALW (varicella zoster virus IE62[593-601] HLA-A*02:01/ALWALPHAA) CD8⁺ T cells with HLA-B55 (two unrelated individuals). Cross-reactivity was tested against different cell types including endothelial and epithelial cells. All cross-reactive T cells expressed a memory phenotype, emphasizing the importance for transplantation. We conclude that public allo-HLA cross-reactivity of virus-specific memory T cells is not uncommon and may create novel opportunities for alloreactivity prediction and risk estimation in transplantation.