FIGURE 5.

Exogenous IL-33 boosts the immunogenicity of ΔgL-SL8-MCMV. Female C57BL/6 mice were infected with ΔgL-SL8-MCMV alongside a single dose of rIL-33 (2 μg) or volume-equivalent PBS. (A) Schematic representation of the experimental protocol. Peripheral blood was drawn on day 7, day 30, and day 60 postinfection (pi). Mice were challenged with rVV-OVA on day 92 pi. Spleens, lungs, and ovaries were harvested on day 97 pi. Naive mice were challenged in parallel as controls. (B) Body weight was measured in each group of ΔgL-SL8-MCMV–infected mice and the corresponding groups of WT MCMV-infected mice. Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 7 mice per group). (C) Frequencies of tetramer-binding CD8⁺ T cells specific for M38, IE3, or SL8 were quantified in peripheral blood on day 7, day 30, and day 60 pi. Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3–8 mice per group). (D) Frequencies of tetramer-binding CD8⁺ T cells specific for SL8 were quantified among leukocytes isolated from ovaries on day 5 postchallenge (day 97 pi). Representative flow cytometry plots are shown. (E) Frequencies of tetramer-binding CD8⁺ T cells specific for SL8 were quantified among leukocytes isolated from spleens, lungs, and ovaries on day 5 postchallenge (day 97 pi). Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3–8 mice per group). (F) Total numbers of tetramer-binding CD8⁺ T cells specific for SL8 were quantified among leukocytes isolated from spleens, lungs, and ovaries on day 5 postchallenge (day 97 pi). Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3–8 mice per group). (G) Total numbers of tetramer-binding CD8⁺ T cells specific for M45, m139, M38, IE3, or SL8 were quantified among leukocytes isolated from spleens on day 5 postchallenge (day 97 pi). Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 3–8 mice per group). Results are concatenated from two independent experiments (B, C, and E–G). *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001.