Ultraviolet-light-inactivated Cas-Br-M murine leukemia virus induces a protective CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte response in newborn mice.

Newborn NFS/N mice are susceptible to the neurological disease induced by infection with Cas-Br-M murine leukemia virus (Cas), and do not develop a protective cytotoxic T cell (CTL)-mediated response to Cas infection. Here we demonstrate that whole UV light-inactivated Cas (UV-Cas), inoculated in newborn NFS/N mice, induced a strong, Cas-specific CTL response detectable 2 weeks postinoculation and persisting in vivo for > or = 36 weeks. The magnitude of the UV-Cas-induced splenic CTL response, mediated by CD8+ T cells, inversely correlated with the level of proviral cas env sequences detectable in the spleen of the UV-Cas-inoculated mice, as revealed by PCR amplification of tissue DNA. The transfer of UV-Cas-primed splenocytes, with Cas-specific CTL activity, protected 100% of recipient newborn mice from the development of neurological disease induced by infection with live Cas, for more than 28 weeks, and reduced the level of viral replication in the recipients.

Duke Scholars

Author Marcella Sarzotti-Kelsoe Integrative Immunobiology