Mucosal T cell response to reovirus

During the last three decades, immunologists and gastroenterologists have w itnessed the formation of mucosal immunology as a discipline in biomedical science, and studies of reovirus infection have substantially contributed t o this evolution. We have focused on mucosal T cell responses induced by re ovirus in conventional, germfree, nude, and NF-kappaB deficient mice. Sever al major facets of T cell function in the immune responses to this mucosal pathogen have been examined, including viral selection of oligoclonal-T cel ls, extrathymic T cell development, and distinct signaling pathways used by CD8 sublineages. In addition, our findings with virus-specific T cells sel ected in the mucosa have suggested novel mechanisms for the rearrangement, selection, and expansion of TCR genes. With the increasing application of m olecular tools, reovirus will continue to be a useful model pathogen to stu dy mucosal immunology and will further our understanding of mucosal immunit y in health and disease.