The dynamics of mouse cytomegalovirus-specific CD4 T cell responses during acute and latent infection.
The dynamics of mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV)-specific CD4 T cell responses and the mechanisms by which these cells contribute to viral control are not well understood, mainly due to lack of appropriate tools to characterize MCMV-specific CD4 T cells. We therefore generated MCMV-specific CD4 T cell hybridomas, then used an MCMV expression library and overlapping peptides to identify CD4 T cell epitopes. We used these novel tools to study the long-term kinetics and organ distribution of MCMV-specific CD4 T cells in comparison to MCMV-specific CD8 T cell responses. We demonstrate that the overall MCMV-specific CD4 T cell response stabilizes during the latent stage, which stands in contrast to subpopulations of MCMV-specific CD8 T cells and HCMV-specific CD4 T cells which accumulate over the course of CMV latency. Furthermore, MCMV-specific CD4 T cells displayed a Th1 phenotype, secreting high levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha and to some extent IL-2, cytokines which are involved in protection from CMV disease.
Walton
Senta M
SM
Institute of Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
Wyrsch
Philippe
P
Munks
Michael W
MW
Zimmermann
Albert
A
Hengel
Hartmut
H
Hill
Ann B
AB
Oxenius
Annette
A
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018146:Muromegalovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D017735:Virus Latency
D016207:Cytokines; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D010455:Peptides