Immune Response of β2-Microglobulin-Deficient Mice to Pathogens

The Regulation and Maturation of Antiviral Immune Responses

“…This interpretation is strengthened by the observations (Zajac et al, 1996) that (i) the cytotoxic effect of the CD4 þ T cells is Fas-mediated, and (ii) the in vivo effects are Fas-dependent; Fas-dependence strongly suggests that the effects require a direct cell/ cell interaction between a FasL þ CD4 þ T cell and a Fas-expressing target cell. However, the model of 2-microglobulin-deficient mice is fraught with difficulties (reviewed in Frelinger and Serody, 1998), and direct cytolytic effects of CD4 þ T cells on infected cells in vivo remain to be demonstrated. Cytolytic CD4 þ T cells also have been identified following Epstein-Barr virus infection (Khanolkar et al, 2001), and perforin þ CD4 þ T cells have been reported in HIV infected individuals (Appay et al, 2002).…”