CONCISE COMMUNICATION Intraocular T Cells of Patients with Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)±Induced Acute Retinal Necrosis Recognize HSV Tegument Proteins VP11/12

It has previously been shown that T cells speci®c for the triggering virus in®ltrate the eye of patients with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)±induced acute retinal necrosis (ARN). The T cells were mainly directed against 0.67±0.73 HSV-1 map region encoded antigens. The ®ne speci®cities of genetically different T cell clones (TCC), obtained from affected eyes of 3 patients with HSV-induced ARN and reactive toward this genomic region of HSV-1, were analyzed with recombinant HSV viruses and synthetic peptides. For 1 patient, the HSV-1 UL46 gene encoded tegument protein VP11/12 was identi®ed as the target antigen. Two separate CD4+ T cell epitopes were de®ned in VP11/12. TCC from the other 2 patients rec-ognized the HSV-1 UL47 gene encoded tegument protein VP13/14. Two separate CD4+ VP13/ 14 T cell epitopes were identi®ed in these patients. Analysis of the data indicates that HSV-1 VP11/12 and VP13/14 are major target antigens for T cells obtained from vitreous ¯uid samples of the HSV-induced ARN patients studied. Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a rare, rapidly progressing, and potentially blinding in¯ammatory eye disease initiated by an ocular infection with herpesviruses like herpes simplex viru