Mature CD8⁺ T lymphocyte response to viral infection during fetal life
J. Clin. Invest. Arnaud Marchant, et al. 111:1747 doi:10.1172/JCI17470 [Go to this article.]

Figure 4
Cytolytic activity and antiviral cytokine production by HCMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells in HCMV-infected newborns. (a) Expression of perforin and granzyme A by total and HCMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells from case 2. HCMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells expressed high levels of perforin and granzyme A. Three levels of perforin expression are shown: negative, low, and high. Similar results were obtained in cases no. 1, 3, and 4. (b) Ex vivo cytolytic activity of HCMV tetramer⁺ CD8⁺ T cells from case no. 2. Purified CD8⁺ T lymphocytes including 7.5% of pp65_495-503 peptide-specific cells were incubated with peptide-loaded JY cells at 5:1 tetramer positive cell/target ratio (black bars). An HLA-A2-restricted pp65_495-503 peptide-specific clone was used as a positive control at a similar effector/target ratio. HCMV-specific CD8⁺ T cells had potent cytolytic activity that was dependent on perforin, as demonstrated by inhibition with CMA (white bars). (c) HLA-A2/pp65_495-503 tetramer (A2 CMV)⁺ CD8⁺ T cells from case no. 2 produce IFN-γ, TNF-α, and MIP-1β, but no IL-2 following short-term peptide restimulation.