LYMPHOCYTIC CHORIOMENINGITIS VIRUS INDUCES A CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN MICE LACKING CLASS-I MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX GLYCOPROTEINS

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) induces a chronic, wasting syndrome when injected intracerebrally into H-2 b mice homozygous for a beta2-microglobulin (beta2-m (- / - )) gene disruption. These mice have very few CD8+ T cells and express little class I MHC glycoprotein, though minimal levels of the H-2D(b) molecule have been detected on in vitro cultured beta2-m ( - / - ) cells. The underlying immunopathological process in these beta2-m (- / - ) mice is mediated by virus immune CD4+ effectors. However, adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells from normal, LCMV-infected H-2D(b) compatible donors induce significant (but low level) meningitis in beta2-m (- / - ) recipients. Such mice develop neither the neurological disease characteristic of LCM nor the persistent, though generally non-fatal, debility that occurs when only the CD4+ T cell subset is involved.