title: Memory CD8+ T cells are gatekeepers of the lymph node draining the site of viral infection.
abstract: It is uncertain how immunity protects against systemic viral diseases. Here, we demonstrate that in the absence of persistent virus, not only antibodies but also recall responses by long-lived memory CD8(+) T cells prevent mousepox, a disease caused by ectromelia virus, a close relative of the virus of human smallpox. Moreover, we show that to protect, recall CD8(+) T cells directly kill targets in the lymph node draining the primary site of infection thus curbing systemic viral spread. Therefore, our work provides the basis for a model where lymph nodes are not just organs where lymphocytes become activated and proliferate but also the sites where a major fight against virus spread takes place.
authors.affiliation: Program of Viral Pathogenesis and Department of Pathology, Division of Basic Sciences, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA.
authors.forename: Ren-Huan
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein-Szanto
authors.forename: Luis J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Sigal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000917:Antibody Formation; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D004482:Ectromelia, Infectious / Q000276:immunology; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral