Further and importantly, 2B4 stimulation was able to enhancepeptide-induced proliferation of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells from patients withchronic hepatitis C. Preliminary data from patients with acute hepatitis C confirmedthe findings of the stimulatory capacity of 2B4 cross-linking (data not shown).However, this activating effect was only observed in some but not all patients. The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is hepatitis C virus infection.