Immunotherapeutic effects of IL-7 during a chronic viral infection in mice.

ABSTRACT: Viral persistence during chronic viral infections is associated with a progressive loss of T-cell effector function called functional exhaustion. There is therefore a need to develop immunotherapies to remediate the functional deficits of T cells during these infections. We investigated the immunotherapeutic effects of IL-7 during chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection in mice. Our results showed that the effects of IL-7 on T cells depend on the viral load, timing, and duration of treatment during the course of the infection. We document that the effectiveness of IL-7 was constrained by high viral load early in the infection, but treatment for at least 3 weeks during declining viral titers mitigated the programmed contraction of CD8 T cells, markedly enhanced the number of hi

SUBMITTER: Nanjappa SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3109537 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature