Generation of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes during Coxsackievirus B-3 Infection

This report describes studies characterizing the virus-specific cytotoxic effector cells which are present in the spleens of mice 7 days after infection with Coxsackievirus B-3. An in vitro 51Cr assay employing syngeneic virus-infected neonatal fibroblasts was used to measure cytotoxic activity. Treatment of immune cells with (anti-thy-1.2) and complement abolished their cytotoxic activity, but no reduction occurred when B cells were removed by incubation with anti-Ig and complement or macrophages eliminated by adherence depletion. The findings therefore imply that the cytotoxic reaction was mediated by sensitized T cells and that B cells and macrophages did not play an important role. Reciprocal assays performed with BALB/c and CBA/J cells showed that Coxsackievirus-immune spleen cells lysed infected syngeneic targets but not allogeneic targets, providing further evidence that cytotoxicity was mediated by effector T cells. In addition an in vitro assay system employing neonatal myocardial cells was developed and used to demonstrate that Coxsackievirus-infected myofibers were susceptible to destruction by immune spleen cells. The evidence suggests that mice infected with Coxsackie B viruses are able to mount a cell-mediated immune response with production of cytotoxic T cells which have the capacity to damage tissues infected with these agents.