title: Reducing persistent polyomavirus infection increases functionality of virus-specific memory CD8 T cells.
abstract: Mouse polyomavirus (MuPyV) causes a smoldering persistent infection in immunocompetent mice. To lower MuPyV infection in acutely and persistently infected mice, and study the impact of a temporal reduction in viral loads on the memory CD8 T cell response, we created a recombinant MuPyV in which a loxP sequence was inserted into the A2 strain genome upstream of the early promoter and another loxP sequence was inserted in cis into the intron shared by all three T antigens. Using mice transgenic for tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase, we demonstrated that reduction in MuPyV load during persistent infection was associated with differentiation of virus-specific CD8 T cells having a superior recall response. Evidence presented here supports the concept that reduction in viral load during persistent infection can promote differentiation of protective virus-specific memory CD8 T cells in patients at risk for diseases caused by human polyomaviruses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Qingsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lauver
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Saumya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maru
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. Electronic address: alukacher@hmc.psu.edu.
authors.forename: Aron E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Lukacher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011120:Polyomavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: CD8 T cells; Memory; Mouse; Persistent viral infection; Polyomavirus