Fig. 6. Inhibition of VLA-4 increases HIV-specific T-cell responses.

Vaccine-induced HIV-1–specific CD8 T-cell response from spleen of mice (n = 4 per group) primed intramuscularly with recombinant DNA, infected with 10⁷ PFUs of NYVAC-C Δ3 and injected with IgG2b isotype or anti-VLA4 antibody 16 h before and 1 h post infection (a). The response was measured 11 days after the last immunization, after splenocyte stimulation with HIV-1 Pol-1/Pol-2 peptides. Total numbers (b) or percentages of Pol-1-, Pol-2-specific (c) CD8 T cells that express IFN-γ and/or TNF and/or CD107a. Nonspecific responses of mice infected with control NYVAC-WT were subtracted from the total value. Graphs show mean ± SD. Pie chart colors indicate the relative percentage of cells producing three (black), two (gray), or one (white) activation markers (d). Total numbers (e) or percentages of Pol-1-, Pol-2-specific (f) CD8 T cells that express IFN-γ and/or TNF and/or CD107a in mice infected with 10⁷ PFUs of NYVAC-C Δ3, injected with IgG2b isotype or anti-VLA4 and treated or untreated with anti-Ly6G. *P < 0.05.