IMMUNOLOGICAL CONTROL OF MURINE GAMMAHERPESVIRUS INFECTION IS INDEPENDENT OF PERFORIN

Perforin-mediated cytotoxic T cell killing has been suggested to be of importance in the control of noncytopathic virus infections, based on studies with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). We examined t he role of perforin in a mouse model of gammaherpesvirus infection usi ng transgenic perforin-deficient mice. Previous work from this laborat ory has shown that CD8 T cells are essential for the resolution of the acute lung infection and control of latently infected B cells in muri ne gammaherpesvirus 68 infection. The absence of perforin did not sign ificantly affect the kinetics of either the lytic lung infection or th e latent spleen infection. Lymphocytes from both perforin-deficient an d control mice secreted comparable levels of IFN-gamma, IL-10 and IL-6 , In addition, lymphocytes from both strains had similar levels of CD3 epsilon-dependent cytotoxic activity in the spleen, draining lymph no des and bronchoalveolar lavage, These data indicate that the lack of p erforin has little affect on the ability of mice to control an experim ental gammaherpesvirus infection.