Figure 7. Rag1 ^−/− mice passively transferred with both T cells were fully protected from VACV infection.

Spleens of naïve C57BL/6 mice were removed and made into single-cell suspension and this population was enriched in CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells using a negative selection system. (A) Rag1 ^−/− were inoculated intravenously with either CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells or either type alone (n = 6 per group). As a control, Rag1 ^−/− mice received splenocytes prior to isolation intravenously (10⁷ viable cells). Four days after inoculation, all animals were infected with VACV-WR by tail scarification and weighted daily (***p<0.001, paired t test). Bars represent mean and SEM. (B) Survival curve of Rag1 ^−/− passively transferred with both CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells or with either type alone, compared to the mortality in the same strain without previous treatment (**p<0.01, log-rank test). Viral titers in tail (C) and ovaries (D) of mice passively transferred with WT T cells and infected with VACV-WR. Bars represent mean and standard error (SEM) (*p<0.05, **p<0.01 and ***p<0.001 compared to Rag1 ^−/− non-treated group, t test). The results shown are representative of two experiments (CD4⁺ plus CD8⁺ T cells group). For animals that received only CD4⁺ or CD8⁺ T cells, only one experiment was performed.