“…Using this criterion, we found that CD4 T cells from WT mice responded to a total of 9 peptide pools (pools 8,11,12,14,15,16,21,26, and 30), including 8, 11, and 26, pools that contain peptides corresponding to previously characterized MalE epitopes (45,46). Interestingly, when responses in DM Ϫ/Ϫ mice were analyzed, a similar number of peptide pools elicited a productive IL-2 response, with a total of 8 (pools 4,7,8,10,11,12,14, and 16) displaying reactivity above 4% of the total response. Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that several of the pools recognized in DM Ϫ/Ϫ mice were distinct from those eliciting responses in WT mice, associated with a gain in T cell activation to new peptide pools, including 4, 7, and 10, and the reciprocal reduction or loss of reactivity to pools 8, 11 and 26. This pattern of epitope shift between WT and DM Ϫ/Ϫ T cell responses was further reinforced when individual peptides from pools 8 through 11, as well as 25 and 26 were used to restimulate CD4 T cells in IL-2 ELISPOT assays.…”