High frequency of virus-specific interleukin-2-producing CD4(+) T cells and Th1 dominance during lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection.
Analysis of C57BL/6 mice acutely infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) by using intracellular cytokine staining revealed a high frequency (2 to 10%) of CD4(+) T cells secreting the Th1-associated cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2), gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), and tumor necrosis factor alpha, with no concomitant increase in the frequency of CD4(+) T cells secreting the Th2-associated cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 following stimulation with viral peptides. In LCMV-infected C57BL/6 CD8(-/-) mice, more than 20% of the CD4(+) T cells secreted IFN-gamma after viral peptide stimulation, whereas less than 1% of the CD4(+) T cells secreted IL-4 under these same conditions. Mice persistently infected with a high dose of LCMV clone 13 also generated a virtually exclusive Th1 response. Thus, LCMV induces a much more profound virus-specific CD4(+) T-cell response than previously recognized, and it is dramatically skewed to a Th1 phenotype.
Varga
S M
SM
Program in Immunology and Virology, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655, USA.
Welsh
R M
RM
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007424:Intracellular Fluid / Q000276:immunology; D008216:Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
D016207:Cytokines; D007376:Interleukin-2