Interferon-gamma Acts Directly on CD8+ T Cells to Increase Their Abundance During Virus Infection

Overview

Journal J Exp Med

Specialties Allergy & Immunology
General Medicine

Date 2005 Apr 6

PMID 15809350

Citations 164

Authors

Jason K Whitmire

Joyce T Tan

J Lindsay Whitton

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Interferon-gamma (IFNgamma) is important in regulating the adaptive immune response, and most current evidence suggests that it exerts a negative (proapoptotic) effect on CD8(+) T cell responses. We have developed a novel technique of dual adoptive transfer, which allowed us to precisely compare, in normal mice, the in vivo antiviral responses of two T cell populations that differ only in their expression of the IFNgamma receptor. We use this technique to show that, contrary to expectations, IFNgamma strongly stimulates the development of CD8(+) T cell responses during an acute viral infection. The stimulatory effect is abrogated in T cells lacking the IFNgamma receptor, indicating that the cytokine acts directly upon CD8(+) T cells to increase their abundance during acute viral infection.

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