Increased expression of the NK cell receptor KLRG1 by virus-specific CD8 T cells during persistent antigen

Robert Thimme1, Victor Appay, Marie Koschella

  • 1Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Department of Immunology, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.

Journal of Virology
|September 6, 2005
PubMed

The killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1) is a natural killer cell receptor expressed by T cells that exhibit impaired proliferative capacity. Here, we determined the KLRG1 expression by virus-specific T cells. We found that repetitive and persistent antigen stimulation leads to an increase in KLRG1 expression of virus-specific CD8+ T cells in mice and that virus-specific CD8+ T cells are mostly KLRG1+ in chronic human viral infections (human immunodeficiency virus, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus) but not in resolved infection (influenza virus). Thus, by using KLRG1 as a T-cell marker, our results suggest that the differentiation status and function of virus-specific CD8+ T cells are directly influenced by persistent antigen stimulation.

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