Figure 3. Analysis of NK and T cell dynamics in anti-IL-15-treated RM at time of SIV infection.

(A) A schematic representation of the study protocol showing 3 groups of RM received 20mg/kg of anti-IL-15 or IgG control mAb on day −42 and 10mg/kg on days −28 and −14 prior to SIVmac239 infection. Two groups of RM received additional 10mg/kg doses of anti-IL-15 or IgG control mAb on days 0, 14, 28, 42 and 56 post-SIV infection. (B) Comparison of absolute NK cell counts, including CD16⁺ CD56⁻, CD16⁻ CD56⁺ and CD16⁻ CD56⁻ subsets in blood and fraction of total NK cells in bone marrow and small intestine on day 0 of SIVmac239 infection in the short duration anti-IL-15 mAb (Group A, n = 7), long duration anti-IL-15 mAb (Group B, n = 8) or IgG control mAb (Group C, n = 8) treatment groups. (C-D) Comparison of absolute and proliferative fraction of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell counts, including T_N, T_M, T_CM, T_TrM and T_EM subsets in blood on day 0 of SIVmac239 infection in each treatment group. (E) Comparison of the proliferative fraction of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T_M in lung airspace, small intestine, bone marrow and lymph node on day 0 of SIVmac239 infection in each treatment group. Results are shown as cells/μl of blood for absolute counts or percentage of Ki-67⁺ for proliferation. Each data point represents a single determination from an individual RM. Significance of difference in all parameters was assessed as described in Materials and Methods.