{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T20:30:08Z","timestamp":1768509008115,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]]},"group-title":"Immunology","reference-count":50,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Histologic and serologic studies suggest the induction of local and systemic\n                    <jats:italic>Treponema pallidum<\/jats:italic>\n                    (\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    )-specific CD4+ T cell responses to\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection. We hypothesized that\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    -specific CD4+ T cells are detectable in blood and in the skin rash of secondary syphilis and persist in both compartments after treatment.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    PBMC collected from 67 participants were screened by IFN\u03b3 ELISPOT response to\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    sonicate.\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    -reactive T cell lines from blood and skin were probed for responses to 88 recombinant\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    antigens. Peptide epitopes and HLA class II restriction were defined for selected antigens.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    We detected CD4+ T cell responses to\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    sonicate ex vivo. Using\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    -reactive T cell lines we observed recognition of 14 discrete proteins, 13 of which localize to bacterial membranes or the periplasmic space. After therapy,\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    -specific T cells persisted for at least 6 months in skin and 10 years in blood.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection elicits an antigen-specific CD4+ T cell response in blood and skin.\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    -specific CD4+ T cells persist as memory in both compartments long after curative therapy. The\n                    <jats:italic>Tp<\/jats:italic>\n                    antigenic targets we identified may be high priority vaccine candidates.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.02.27.581790","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]],"date-time":"2024-02-29T21:55:15Z","timestamp":1709243715000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["<i>Treponema pallidum<\/i>\n                  periplasmic and membrane proteins are recognized by circulating and skin CD4+ T cells"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0786-9537","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tara B.","family":"Reid","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Charmie","family":"Godornes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6490-5974","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Victoria L.","family":"Campbell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9245-5325","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kerry J.","family":"Laing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5788-0465","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lauren C.","family":"Tantalo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alloysius","family":"Gomez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-7485-578X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thepthara N.","family":"Pholsena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9334-8150","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicole A. 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