FIGURE 6.

CD49d/VCAM-1 mediated homing of CD8⁺ T cells to the brain postinfection. A and B, C57BL/6J mice were injected with OT-1 and LM-OVA (1 × 10⁴), as described in Fig. 1. Separate groups of mice received Abs against CD49d i.p.: 100 μg each on days 2–6 (A) or on days 62–66 after LM-OVA infection (B). Control mice received normal rat IgG. Twenty-four hours after the last Ab injection, brains were removed, and the relative numbers of OVA-tetramer⁺ CD8⁺ T cells were evaluated after staining cells with anti-CD8 Abs and OVA-tetramers. C, C57BL/6J mice were injected with OT-1 and LM-OVA (1 × 10⁴), as described in Fig. 1, and the expression of CD49d on OVA-tetramer⁺ CD8⁺ T cells in the spleen and brain was evaluated at various time intervals. D, C57BL/6 mice were treated as in A, with anti–VCAM-1–blocking Ab; isotype-matched control IgG was used for the i.p. injections. Brains were removed 24 h after the last Ab injection, and the relative numbers of OVA-tetramer⁺ CD8⁺ T cells were evaluated after staining cells with anti-CD8 Abs and OVA-tetramers. Experiments in A–C involved analysis of at least four mice/group and were repeated at least twice; the experiment in D involved the analysis of four mice and was performed once.