ANTI-VIRAL IMMUNITY AGAINST MAREKS-DISEASE VIRUS-INFECTED CHICKEN KIDNEY CELLS

The mechanism of immunity conferred by herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) was investigated using Marek's disease virus (MDV) infected chicken kidney cell (CKC) cultures as target cells. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from normal or HVT-vaccinated chickens killed MDV infected target cells in the presence of anti-MDV or anti-HVT serum, whereas normal lymphocytes and HVT-sensitised lymphocytes themselves had no specific cytotoxic effect. Cell-mediated cytotoxicity of PBL from HVT-vaccinated chicken was exhibited specifically against HVT infected CKC, and that of PBL from chickens inoculated with MDV was exhibited against MDV infected CKC. From these results, it was concluded that antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity to MDV infected cells may contribute to resistance to Marek's disease induced by HVT vaccination. © 1979, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.