NORMAL RESPONSIVENESS OF CTLA-4-DEFICIENT ANTIVIRAL CYTOTOXIC T-CELLS

CTLA-4 has been proposed to negatively regulate immune responses, and mice deficient for CTLA-4 expression succumb to a lymphoproliferative disorder within a few weeks after birth, This study assessed the respo nsiveness of CTLA-4-deficient T cells expressing a class I-restricted TCR specific for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), The kineti cs of T cell proliferation were studied in vitro after stimulation of T cells with full and partial T cell agonists, No gross abnormalities in CTLA-4-deficient T cells could be detected, Using adoptive transfer experiments, T cell responses were also measured in vivo after infect ion with LCMV, Low dose infection with LCMV leads to strong expansion of specific T cells followed by a reduction in T cells that parallels the elimination of Ag. The kinetics of T cell expansion and eliminatio n after low dose LCMV infection were not affected by the absence of CT LA-4, High dose infection of mice with LCMV leads to a transient expan sion of T cells followed by T cell exhaustion, where all specific T ce lls are eliminated, T cell exhaustion also occurred in the absence of CTLA-4, Thus, surprisingly, the absence of CTLA-4 did not interfere wi th T cell activation, down-regulation of ongoing T cell responses afte r the elimination of Ag, or the exhaustion of T cell responses in the presence of excessive amounts of Ag.