Limiting the available T cell receptor repertoire modifies acute lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-induced immunopathology

Abstract

The invariably fatal immunopathological disease that follows intracerebral injection of CBA/Ca (H-2k) mice with 1000 PFU of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) generally fails to develop in congenic mice transgenic for a Vβ8.1Dβ2Jβ2.3Cβ2T cell receptor (TCR) gene. The majority of these LCMV-infected TCR-transgenic mice show a substantial meningitis of delayed onset, that resolves without causing any obvious clinical impairment. This inflammatory process depends on the involvement of Vβ8+ T cells, but does not require the participation of the CD4+ subset. The cytotoxic effectors that develop in both the transgenic mice and the CBA/Ca controls are lytic for target cells infected with a v..