Figure 9. pDCs play a role in in vivo induction of CTLs by WIV.

Mice were injected on day 0,1, and 2 with the pDC-depleting antibody 120G8 (pDC Ab), a non-specific isotype control (ctrl Ab) or left untreated. On day 1 they were immunized s.c. with 20 µg of H5N1 WIV or mock-vaccinated with HNE buffer. The procedure of pDC depletion and immunization was repeated on days 20–22. One week later the level of NP-specific CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood was evaluated by tetramer staining. Gating was based on the forward-side scatter pattern and dead cells (7AAD+) were excluded. Finally, gates were put on CD8+tetramer+ cells. Bars represent mean±SEM of 5 mice per group. *p<0.05, **p<0.01; Mann-Whitney U-test.