Ablation of Dicer in CD8 T cells results in reduced memory CD8 T cell numbers.

<p>P14 chimeric mice containing 5x10⁴ D^bGP33-specific WT P14 as well as <i>dicer</i>^<i>CKO</i> P14 CD8 T cells were infected with LCMV and sacrificed at memory (D44). <b>(A)</b> FACS plots depict WT and <i>dicer</i>^<i>CKO</i> frequencies of donor antigen-specific CD8 T cells. Bar graphs show total numbers as well as percent contraction between effector and memory time points of WT and <i>dicer</i>^<i>CKO</i> donor antigen-specific CD8 T cells in spleen, inguinal lymph nodes, lung, and liver. <b>(B)</b> Antigen-specific CD8 T cells were analyzed via direct <i>ex vivo</i> re-stimulation as described before and production of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2 is presented. FACS plots show donor WT or <i>dicer</i>^<i>CKO</i> IFN-γ+ CD8 T cells. Bar graphs depict percent of TNF-α+ or IL-2+ of IFN-γ+ CD8 T cells of WT or <i>dicer</i>^<i>CKO</i> donor antigen-specific T cells. Bar graphs display mean and SEM. Paired Student’s t-test was used with statistical significance in difference of means represented as * (P ≤ 0.05), ** (P ≤ 0.01), *** (P ≤ 0.001). Experiments are representative of 2 experiments with 3 mice per group.