In the absence of T cells, natural killer cells protect from mortality due to HSV-1 encephalitis.
The importance of natural killer (NK) cells in the resistance to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), a common infection of immunocompromised patients, is unclear. Previous data on the role of NK cells in murine HSV-1 infection has been contradictory. Adoptive transfer studies suggested that NK cells mediated resistance to HSV-1, but in vivo depletion approaches demonstrated that NK cells were not important. We studied the course of HSV-1 infection after intranasal (i.n.) inoculation of E26 mice (lacking NK and T cells), T cell knockout (T cell ko) mice (lacking T cells only), or normal control mice. The E26 mice showed greater mortality and an impaired ability to clear virus from lung and brain compared to T cell ko mice and control mice, and had severe necrotizing HSV-1 encephalitis. Therefore, the data support the hypothesis that NK cells play an important role in the natural defense of murine HSV-1 infection.
Adler
H
H
Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Beland
J L
JL
Del-Pan
N C
NC
Kobzik
L
L
Sobel
R A
RA
Rimm
I J
IJ
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009336:Necrosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology