Delayed clearance of Sendai virus in mice lacking class I MHC-restricted CD8 T cells

Abstract

The role and interdependence of CD8+ and CD4+ αβ-T cells in the acute response after respiratory infection with the murine parainfluenza type 1 virus, Sendai virus, has been analyzed for H-2b mice. Enrichment of CD8+ virus-specific CTL effectors in the lungs of immunologically intact C57BL/6 animals coincided with the clearance of the virus from this site by day 10 after infection. Removal of the CD4+ T cells by in vivo mAb treatment did not affect appreciably either the recruitment of CD8+ T cells to the infected lung, or their development into virus-specific cytotoxic effectors. In contrast, depletion of the CD8+ subset delayed virus clearance, although most mice survived the infection. Tr..