title: Increasing inflationary T-cell responses following transient depletion of MCMV-specific memory T cells.
abstract: Murine CMV (MCMV) infection induces effector CD8(+) T cells that continue to increase in frequency after acute infection ("inflation") and are stably maintained at a high frequency, with up to 20% of the CD8(+) T-cell compartment being specific for one epitope, although the flexibility and turnover of these populations is not fully defined. Here we report that effector/memory CD8(+) T cells induced by MCMV can be paradoxically boosted following transient depletion of epitope specific CD8(+) T cells. Treatment of MCMV-infected mice with MHC-Class I-saporin tetramers led to partial (80-90%) depletion of epitope-specific CD8(+) T cells-rapidly followed by a rebound, leading to expansion and maintenance of up to 40% of total CD8(+) T cells, with minimal changes in response to a control epitope (M45). These data indicate the tight balance between host and virus during persistent infection and the functional flexibility of the "inflated" CD8(+) T cell responses during persistent infection.
authors.affiliation: Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sims
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bolinger
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klenerman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018146:Muromegalovirus / Q000276:immunology; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D012503:Saponins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D012503:Saponins
keywords: Inflationary T-cell response; MCMV; Memory T cells