Efficacious control of cytomegalovirus infection after long-term depletion of CD8+ T lymphocytes

Jonjic, Stipan and Pavic, Ivica and Lucin, Pero and Rukavina, Daniel and Koszinowski, Ulrich H. (1990): Efficacious control of cytomegalovirus infection after long-term depletion of CD8+ T lymphocytes. In: Journal of Virology, Vol. 64: pp. 5457-5464

Abstract

Although the relative contribution of different immune effector functions to clearing tissues of cytomegalovirus is controversial, the contribution of CD8+ T lymphocytes has generally been accepted as essential. In this report, we show that under certain conditions the CD8+ T-lymphocyte subset can be dispensable for clearance of cytomegalovirus. Mice depleted of the CD8+ T-lymphocyte subset eliminated infectious virus with a clearance kinetics similar to that of normal mice. Adoptive transfer studies revealed that the limitation of virus spread required the cooperation between the CD4+ subset and other cells. Comparison between protective functions generated in fully immunocompetent and in CD8- mice demonstrated that elimination of the CD8+ subset before infection altered the quality of the antiviral immune response. The compensatory protective activity gained by CD4+ cells in CD8- mice was absent in normal mice recovering from virus infection.

• Item Type: Article
• Collections: Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health