Figure 6.

Vac-MBP but not wild-type vaccinia virus activates Rag2^−/− 8.8 T cells to induce autoimmunity. (a) CFSE-labeled Rag2^−/− 8.8 splenocytes (2 × 10⁶) were transferred into Mbp^−/− mice that were either uninfected or infected one day earlier with either wild-type vaccinia or Vac-MBP virus. Splenocytes were harvested three days later and stained with anti-CD8, Thy1.2, V_α8 and V_β8 antibodies. Dilution of CFSE is shown for CD8⁺Thy1.2⁺V_α8⁺V_β8⁺ cells (black line) and overlaid with that from non-infected mice (gray line). (b) Rag2^+/+ 8.8 or Rag2^−/− 8.8 mice were reconstituted with 2.5 × 10⁶ splenocytes from naïve wild-type mice and infected with Vac-MBP virus two weeks later. Weight loss was monitored as described in Fig. 1a. Numbers in parentheses represent disease incidence of total mice. Data are representative of two experiments. Error bars represent s.e.m.