Precursor frequency, nonlinear proliferation, and functional maturation of virus-specific CD4+ T cells.
The early events regulating antiviral CD4 responses were tracked using an adoptive transfer model. CD4+ T cell expansion was nonlinear, with a lengthy lag phase followed by 2 days of explosive proliferation. A small number of naive Ag-specific CD4+ T cells were found in nonlymphoid tissues and, in the 8 days following infection, the number of activated cells increased in all tissues analyzed, and their effector functions matured. Finally, we show that a naive mouse contains approximately 100 naive CD4+ precursor cells specific for a single epitope, a precursor frequency of approximately 10(-5), similar to that of naive CD8+ T cells, indicating that the approximately 50-fold difference in size of the two responses to virus infection is determined by something other than the number of precursor cells.
Whitmire
Jason K
JK
Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Benning
Nicola
N
Whitton
J Lindsay
JL
D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D015415:Biomarkers; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation / Q000821:virology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000502:physiology*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D017710:Lymphocyte Transfusion; D008217:Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology
D015415:Biomarkers; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte