A consensus epitope prediction approach identifies the breadth of murine TCD8+-cell responses to vaccinia virus

The value of predictive algorithms for identifying CD8 + T (T CD8+ )-cell epitopes has not been adequately tested experimentally. Here we demonstrate that conventional bioinformatic methods predict the vast majority of T CD8+ -cell epitopes derived from vaccinia virus WR strain (VACV-WR) in the H-2 b mouse model. This approach reveals the breadth of T-cell responses to vaccinia, a widely studied murine viral infection model, and may provide a tool for developing comprehensive antigenic maps of any complex pathogen.