Natural killer cells are dispensable for virus control in Rag2-/- mice during primary RSV infection
Author(s)
Nakawesi, Joy
Sow Tao Min, Tammie
Johansson, Cecilia
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the major causes of severe lower respiratory tract infections, especially in children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. Complications arising from viral infections in these age groups can present therapeutic challenges as most of these individuals have impaired adaptive immunity. Using the T- and B cell-deficient Rag2-/- mice, the mechanisms that mediate protection in immunocompromised hosts during RSV infection can be investigated. RSV-infected Rag2-/- mice showed no symptoms of disease or chronic inflammation in the lungs and airways despite the presence of infectious virus in their lungs several months after infection. Interestingly, Natural Killer (NK) cells, the main innate cells with anti-viral cytotoxic effector functions, were recruited two days earlier in the lungs of Rag2-/- mice compared to wildtype mice, resulting in early production of IFN-. However, depletion of NK cells did not affect disease severity or viral load. Together, these results suggest that the NK cells are largely dispensable for virus control during primary RSV infection in Rag2-/- mice.
Date Issued
2025-09-01
Date Acceptance
2025-06-30
Citation
European Journal of Immunology, 2025, 55 (9)
ISSN
0014-2980
Publisher
Wiley
Journal / Book Title
European Journal of Immunology
Volume
55
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Immunology published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e70045
Date Publish Online
2025-09-03