Figure 2

Viral loads in NK cell depleted FV-infected mice. Mice were infected with FV and NK cells were depleted by injecting cell culture supernatant containing α-NK1.1 antibody or isotype control (BioXCell). Viral loads were determined in the bone marrow (A) and spleen (B) by infectious center assay at different phases of infection. A minimum of four mice per group were analyzed and the mean values are indicated by bars + SEM. Experiments were repeated at least twice. Bone marrow cells (C) and splenocytes (D) were analyzed by flow cytometry in order to distinguish NK cells (CD3^- CD49b⁺ NK1.1⁺) and NKT cells (CD3⁺ NK1.1⁺). NK cells were depleted with an efficiency of at least 95%, whereas up to 70% of total NKT cells were ablated. A minimum of seven mice per group were used. Experiments were repeated at least twice. Total numbers of individual cell types per 10⁶ lymphocytes were calculated and indicated by bars + SEM. Statistically significant differences between depleted FV-infected mice and non-depleted FV-infected mice are indicated by * for p < 0.05 and *** for p < 0.001.