Quantification of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus specific T cells and LCMV viral titers

Melanie Grusdat, Catherine Dostert, Dirk Brenner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) is a frequently used animal model to study immune responses against acute and chronic viral infections. LCMV is a non-cytopathic virus, but destruction of infected cells by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can lead to severe damage of tissues. Virus-specific T cell responses have to be balanced. A low virus load leads to a strong T cell response and subsequently to viral control. In contrast, a high viral titer is associated with T cell exhaustion and chronic viral infections. During an intermediate LCMV viral load CD8+ T cells can cause immunopathology, which can have detrimental outcomes. The LCMV infection model offers the opportunity to study virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses during chronic and acute infections by quantifying LCMV-specific T cells by tetramer staining and measuring cytokine production and viral titers in different organs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-131
Number of pages11
JournalMethods in Cell Biology
Volume173
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Jan 2023

Keywords

  • acute viral infection
  • chronic viral infection
  • Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
  • T cell

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