Prominent Usage of Vβ8.3 T Cells in the H-2Db-Restricted Response to an Influenza A Virus Nucleoprotein Epitope

Abstract

The spectrum of TCR usage has been analyzed for virus-specific CD8+ T cells isolated from the regional mediastinal lymph modes and from the lung by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of C57BL/6 (B6) mice with influenza pneumonia. Lymphocytes were recovered during the acute phase of the primary response in mice infected with an H3N2 (A/HK×31) virus, or in immune animals that were secondarily challenged with an H1N1 virus (A/PR8). Cells taken directly from the BAL of infected mice exhibited an increase in the frequency of Vβ8.3+ /CD8+ T cells. In addition, 20 to 50% of proliferating CD8+ T cells in the mediastinal lymph nodes and BAL populations stimulated in vitro with A/HK×31 were Vβ8.3 TCR+. Thes..