KINETIC-ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIFIC HOST RESPONSE TO A MURINE GAMMAHERPESVIRUS

Respiratory infection of BALB/c mice with the murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) induces the clonal expansion of virus-specific cytotoxic T -lymphocyte (CTL) precursors (CTLp) in the regional, mediastinal lymph nodes (MLN). Some of these CTLps differentiate to become fully functi onal CTL effecters, which can be detected in both the lymphoid tissue and in the site of pathology in the lung, Though the lymph nodes and s pleen harbor substantial populations of latently infected B cells for Life, the level of virus-specific CTL activity decreases rapidly in al l sites, The CD8(+) CTLp numbers fall to background levels in the MLN within several months of the termination of the productive phase of MH V-68 infection in the respiratory epithelium but are maintained at rel atively low frequency in the spleen, The continued presence of a gamma interferon-producing, MHV-68-specific CD4(+) set can also be demonstr ated in cultured spleen cells. The virus-specific immunoglobulin G (Ig G) response is slow to develop, with serum neutralizing antibody and e nzyme-linked immunosorbent assay titers continuing to rise for several months, The level of total serum IgG increases dramatically within 2 weeks of infection, probably as a consequence of polyclonal B-cell act ivation, and remains high, The immune response profile is clearly infl uenced by the persistence of this DNA virus.