Mice Lacking Expression of Secondary Lymphoid Organ Chemokine Have Defects in Lymphocyte Homing and Dendritic Cell Localization

Gunn, Michael D.; Kyuwa, Shigeru; Tam, Carmen; Kakiuchi, Terutaka; Matsuzawa, Akio; Williams, Lewis T.; Nakano, Hideki

plt Mice Have Decreased Resistance to Viral Infection. The entry of lymphocytes and DCs into T cell zones is likely to be a critical step in the development of a primary immune response. Because plt mice have defects in lymphocyte and DC migration, they are predicted to be deficient in mounting such a response. To evaluate the response of plt mice to viral infection, these mice were infected with MHV administered by intraperitoneal injection. plt mice demonstrate a markedly enhanced sensitivity to viral infection (Fig. 8) . At a dose of 20 PFU, which causes no mortality in wild-type mice, 80% of the infected plt mice died. The LD 50 for MHV in wild-type mice was calculated to be 1,840 PFU. In plt mice the LD 50 for MHV was 5.67 PFU, a 300-fold decrease.