title: Interferon-gamma acts directly on CD8+ T cells to increase their abundance during virus infection.
abstract: Interferon-gamma (IFNgamma) is important in regulating the adaptive immune response, and most current evidence suggests that it exerts a negative (proapoptotic) effect on CD8(+) T cell responses. We have developed a novel technique of dual adoptive transfer, which allowed us to precisely compare, in normal mice, the in vivo antiviral responses of two T cell populations that differ only in their expression of the IFNgamma receptor. We use this technique to show that, contrary to expectations, IFNgamma strongly stimulates the development of CD8(+) T cell responses during an acute viral infection. The stimulatory effect is abrogated in T cells lacking the IFNgamma receptor, indicating that the cytokine acts directly upon CD8(+) T cells to increase their abundance during acute viral infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Jason K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Whitmire
authors.forename: Joyce T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: J Lindsay
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Whitton
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005453:Fluorescence; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008217:Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma