Figure 5.

IL-15 enhances survival of Bim-deficient KLRG1^hiCD127^lo effector CD8⁺ T cells. (a and b) Groups of WT or Bim^−/− mice (n=4 per genotype) were infected with LCMV and treated either with PBS or IL-15/IL-15Rα immune-complexes (IL-15-IC) on days 10, 12 and 14 p.i. and killed on day 15. Splenocytes were stained with D^bgp33 tetramers and antibodies against KLRG1, CD127 and CD8. Graphs show percentages (a) or numbers (b) of CD8⁺ GP33⁺ KLRG1^hiCD127^lo or KLRG1^loCD127^hi subsets on day 15 p.i. (c) Mice were also given BrDU the last 2 days before killing. Graph shows the percentages of BrDU⁺ cells within each subset. Data are representative of two independent experiments. Similar results were obtained in dLck-CreBim^f/f mice. **P≤0.01