From optical bench to cageside: intravital microscopy on the long road to rational vaccine design

No antiviral vaccine is perfect. For some important pathogens, there are no effective vaccines. Many current vaccines are based on the working principles of Jenner and Pasteur, that is, empiric administration of attenuated or inactivated forms of the pathogen. Tapping the full potential of vaccination requires a thorough understanding of the mechanism of immune activation by pathogens and their individual components. Though the rate of discovery continues to accelerate, the complexity of the immune system is daunting, particularly when integrated into the overall physiology of the host. Here, we review the application of multiphoton microscopy to examine host-pathogen interactions, focusing on our recent efforts to understand mouse CD8(+) T-cell responses to viruses at the level of cellular interactions in lymph nodes draining the infection site. We also discuss our recent efforts to understand the influence of the sympathetic nervous system on antiviral immunity, with the ultimate goal of appreciating the traditional elements of immunity as just one facet of the total organismal response to infection and immunization.