FIG 2.

Dendritic cells are required for the induction of HBV-specific CD8⁺ T cells from natural T cell precursors. Groups of 3 to 4 CD11c-DOG mice and B6 mice were treated with either 200 ng of human DTX or saline and 1 day later hydrodynamically injected with HBV plasmid DNA and treated with same amount of DTX every other day thereafter. (A to C) On day 14 after hydrodynamic transfection of 1.3-HBV plasmid DNA, the CD11c-DOG and B6 mice were sacrificed for HBV-specific CD8⁺ T cell analyses. (A and B) Numbers of COR93-specific CD8⁺ T cells (A) and IFN-γ-producing CD8⁺ T cells (B) in the livers of CD11c-DOG mice that were treated either with saline (n = 3, white bars) or 200 μg of DTX (n = 4, black bars). The data represent means ± the SD for three or four mice. (C) Southern blot analysis (S.B.) of 30 μg of total liver DNA isolated from the mice shown in panel A and B. Bands corresponding to the expected size of the integrated transgene (Tg), relaxed circular (RC), and single-stranded (SS) HBV DNA are indicated. (D and E) The number of COR93-specific CD8⁺ T cells (D) and IFN-γ-producing CD8⁺ T cells (E) in the livers of B6 mice that were treated either with saline (n = 3, white bars) or 200 μg of DTX (n = 4, black bars). The data represent means ± the SD for three or four mice.