Figure 5.

Activation and exhaustion genes differentially expressed in trigeminal ganglia-resident HSV-specific CD8⁺ T cells from HSV-1 infected symptomatic vs. asymptomatic HLA Tg rabbits. (a) Expression of T cell activation genes (CD69, CD62L, CD44, CD107, and IFN-γ) detected by single-cell RNA sequencing from SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits is represented through t-SNE plots (top panels). Expression of T cell exhaustion genes (PD-1, LAG-3, CTLA4, ICOS, and BLIMP1) detected by single-cell RNA sequencing from SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits is represented through t-SNE plots (lower panels). (b) Average frequencies of specific genes representing memory CD8⁺ T_CM, CD8⁺ T_EM, and CD8⁺ T_RM cell subsets from TG of SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits (left panel). Average frequencies of CD8⁺ T_RM cells expressing various exhaustion genes in HSV-1 infected TG of in SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits (top right panel). Average frequencies of functional CD107^a/b+IFN-γ ⁺CD8⁺ T_RM cells in HSV-1 infected TG of in SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits (lower right panel). (c) Bulk RNA sequencing showing expression of T-cell activation (left panel) and T-cell exhaustion genes (right panel) in HSV-specific T_RM cells from SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits. (d) Frequencies of memory CD8⁺ T_CM, CD8⁺ T_EM, and CD8⁺ T_RM cell subsets detected by FACS in HSV-1 infected TG of SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits. (e) Fluorescence microscopy images showing infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells in HSV-1 infected TG from SYMP vs. ASYMP HLA Tg rabbits. TG sections were co-stained using DAPI and mAb specific to rabbit CD8⁺ T cells (magnification, × 20). Blue, DAPI: DNA, green: CD8⁺ T cells.