Control of murine gammaherpesvirus infection is independent of NK cells

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that NK cells are important in controlling the early stages of infection with alpha- or betaherpesviruses. In contrast, little is known about the impact of NK cells on gammaherpesvirus infections. We tested mice with defects in NK cells for their ability to resist murine gammaherpesvirus (MHV-68) infection. The depletion of NK cells had no effect on the control of the acute or latent stages of the infection. In addition, transgenic mice deficient in NK cells controlled the infection in a comparable manner to wild-type mice. We also showed that the antiviral CD8 T cell response was unaffected by the presence or absence NK cells. We conclude that NK cells contribute little to the control of MHV-68 infection, and therefore, NK cells are not essential for controlling all herpesvirus infections.