PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mueller, Scott N.
AU  - Langley, William A.
AU  - Li, Guimei
AU  - García-Sastre, Adolfo
AU  - Webby, Richard J.
AU  - Ahmed, Rafi
TI  - Qualitatively Different Memory CD8<sup>+</sup> T Cells Are Generated after Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus and Influenza Virus Infections
AID  - 10.4049/jimmunol.1001142
DP  - 2010 Jul 16
TA  - The Journal of Immunology
PG  - 1001142
4099  - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/early/2010/07/16/jimmunol.1001142.short
4100  - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/early/2010/07/16/jimmunol.1001142.full
AB  - Viral infections often induce robust T cell responses that are long-lived and protective. However, it is unclear to what degree systemic versus mucosal infection influences the generation of effector and memory T cells. In this study, we characterized memory CD8+ T cells generated after respiratory influenza virus infection and compared the phenotypic and functional qualities of these cells with memory T cells generated after systemic infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Using a recombinant influenza virus expressing the LCMV gp33–41 epitope and TCR transgenic CD8+ T cells with a fixed TCR, we compared responses to the same Ag delivered by mucosal or systemic viral infection. Memory cells generated postinfection with either virus showed only a few phenotypic differences. Yet, influenza memory T cells produced lower amounts of effector cytokines upon restimulation and displayed reduced proliferation compared with LCMV-induced memory cells. Strikingly, we observed reduced expansion of spleen- and, in particular, lung-derived influenza memory cells after recall in vivo, which correlated with reduced early protection from secondary infection. These findings suggest that qualitatively different memory CD8+ T cells are generated after respiratory or systemic virus infections.