EXPRESSION OF THE MUCOSAL HOMING RECEPTOR ALPHA(4)BETA(7) CORRELATES WITH THE ABILITY OF CD8(-CELLS TO CLEAR ROTAVIRUS INFECTION() MEMORY T)

The integrin alpha(4) beta(7) plays an important role in lymphocyte ho ming to mucosal lymphoid tissues and has been shown to define a subpop ulation of memory T cells capable of homing to intestinal sites. Here we have used a well-characterized intestinal virus, murine rotavirus, to investigate whether memory/effector function for an intestinal path ogen is associated with alpha(4) beta(7) expression. alpha(4) beta(7)( hi) memory phenotype (CD44(hi)), alpha(4) beta(7)(-) memory phenotype, and presumptively naive (CD44(lo)) CD8(+) T lymphocytes from rotaviru s-infected mice were sorted and transferred into Rag-2 (T- and B-cell- deficient) recipients that were chronically infected with murine rotav irus. alpha(4) beta(7)(hi) memory phenotype CD8(+) cells were highly e fficient at clearing rotavirus infection, alpha(4) beta(7)- memory cel ls were inefficient or ineffective, depending on the cell numbers tran sferred, and CD44(lo) cells were completely unable to clear chronic ro tavirus infection. These data demonstrate that functional memory for r otavirus resides primarily in memory phenotype cells that display the mucosal homing receptor alpha(4) beta(7).