Immunogenicity of the ULBP2-TB40 strain in humanized mice.

<p>(A) Experimental design for immunization of humanized mice with the HCMV strains. DC generated from HLA-A2+ HCMV-negative donors were infected or left uninfected and 1 day p.i. injected into NSG-A2 humanized mice. Mice were boosted 7 days later in the same manner. On day 18 p.i. mice were sacrificed and the frequency of HCMV-specific CD8+ T cells and viral load were analyzed. (B) Representative immunohistological images of spleens from one animal of each group after staining with a CD3 antibody. Scale bar, 200 μm. (C) Percentages of human CD8+ and CD4+ T cells out of total CD3+ cells and of CD19+ B cells and CD56+ NK cells (right y-axis in red) out of total CD3- cells in spleens of animals from the uninfected group (white circles), or groups receiving TB40 (black circles) and ULBP2-TB40 infected DC (red circles). (D) CMV-specific IgM antibodies in serum of infected animals detected by ELISA. (E) Percentage of IE1-tetramer+ CD8+ T cells in spleens of animals for the indicated groups. (F) Viral load in spleen at day 18 p.i. Each circle represents the result for one animal and lines indicate medians. Data from all panels was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney t-test. *, P < 0.05. ns, P > 0.05.