Virology Commons^™

Gammaherpesvirus Persistence Alters Key Cd8 T-Cell Memory Characteristics And Enhances Antiviral Protection, Joshua J. Obar, Shinichiro Fuse, Erica K. Leung, Sarah C. Bellfy, Edward J. Usherwood

Dartmouth Scholarship

In herpesvirus infections, the virus persists for life but is contained through T-cell-mediated immune surveillance. How this immune surveillance operates is poorly understood. Recent studies of other persistent infections have indicated that virus persistence is associated with functional deficits in the CD8(+) T-cell response. To test whether this is the case in a herpesvirus infection, we used a mutant murine gammaherpesvirus that is defective in its ability to persist in the host. By comparing the immune response to this virus with a revertant virus that can persist, we were able to dissect the changes in the antiviral CD8(+) T-cell response …