Macrophage, but not NK cell, depletion rescues ΔM36 MCMV <i>in vivo</i>.

<p>In a combined experiment to elucidate the role of (A) NK cells and (B) macrophages in the control of ΔM36 MCMV growth, RAG1^−/− and RAGγC^−/− mice received injections of 200 µl liposome encapsulated (A) PBS or (B) clodronate 48 hours (i.v.) and 24 hours (i.p.) prior to viral infection. Following liposome injection mice were i.p. injected with 10⁵ PFU ΔM36 (○) or M36rev (•) MCMV (n = 4–5/group). At day 3 post infection infectious virus was determined by plaque assay on MEF cells in spleen (top panels), lungs (middle panels) and liver (bottom panels). Each symbol represents an individual mouse. Differences in median values are highlighted by grey shading. The dashed line shows the limit of detection. *p<0.05; **p<0.01.