Figure 1.

Bcl11b is required for optimal accumulation of VacV-specific effector CD8 T cells. WT (Bcl11b^flox/flox/dLck-iCre⁻; n = 8) or Bcl11b-conditional knockout (Bcl11b^flox/flox/dLck-iCre⁺; n = 7) mice were infected i.p with VacV-WR (2 × 10⁵ PFU/mouse). Eight (A,B) and fourteen (C,D) days postinfection, splenocytes and lung cells were harvested and stained for CD8, CD44, and B8R_20–27/k^b tetramer. (A–D) Left, representative plots of CD8/CD44 (Top Panels) and CD8⁺CD44^hi B8R_20–27/k^b-tetramer staining (Bottom Panels), gating on live cells, are shown. Percentages of activated (CD44^hi) and B8R_20–27/k^b tetramer + CD8 T cells within each gate are indicated. Right, percentages and total numbers of CD8⁺CD44^hi and B8R_20–27/k^b tetramer + cells per spleen (A,C) and lung (B,D). Quadrant settings were based on controls, after gating on naïve CD44^lo cells in the same host. The results shown are representative of two separate experiments each with three to four mice per group. Asterisks indicate statistical significance. The p-values are <0.05 by two-tailed Student t-test (WT vs. Cko).