Nonspecific influx of cytotoxic T cells into influenza virus-infected lungs of mice.

The influx of cytotoxic T cells into A/WSN influenza virus-infected mouse lungs was investigated by adoptive transfer with [125I] 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine ([125I]UdR)-labeled syngeneic cells. More A/WSN virus-immune secondary effector T cells were localized in the A/WSN virus-infected lungs than in the uninfected lungs, the ratios being in the range 2.5-5.0 Nonimmune control cells, in contrast, showed no significant difference in the localization pattern in infected compared to uninfected lungs. Virus-immune T cells of different antigenic specificities, i.e., Sendai or Semliki Forest virus-immune secondary effector T cells, however, also localized more in A/WSN virus-infected than in uninfected lungs, but the heterologous virus-immune T cells were retained in the A/WSN virus-infected lungs for a shorter time than A/WSN virus-immune secondary effector T cells. The work suggests mechanisms other than antigenic specificity may be important in the localization of immune T cells in virus-infected lungs.