Figure 7. Skin-recirculating memory CD8⁺ T cells contribute to host defense against skin VV infection.

(A) The experimental scheme is shown. OT-I adoptive transfer WT mice were infected with skin vaccinia virus (VV)-OVA. On day 14 post infection, splenic CD8⁺ T cells were isolated and CD8⁺ T cells containing 10⁶ OT-I cells were adoptively transferred into naive WT or Itgb6^−/−Itgb8^ΔKC recipient mice. Fourteen days after the transfer, the mice were challenged with skin VV-OVA and the infected skin were harvested 6 days after the challenge. (B) qPCR for VV DNA at the infected skin site of WT and Itgb6^−/−Itgb8^ΔKC mice is shown. (C) Total numbers of OT-I cells identified by flow cytometry in the skin are shown. Data are representative of two separate experiments. Each symbol represents an individual recipient. **p < 0.01.