Treatment with IFN-α11 during acute MCMV infection.

C57BL/6 mice were treated daily with 8000 units of IFN α11 from −1 through +6 dpi with 5×10⁴ PFU of MCMV. Seven dpi, viral loads in the spleen, liver and salivary glands were analyzed by using a plaque assay (A). NK cells in the liver and spleen were analyzed by flow cytometry. The early activation marker CD69 was used to analyze the frequencies of activated NK cells (NK1.1⁺ CD3⁻ CD49b⁺) (B). C57BL/6 mice were treated daily with 8000 units of IFN-α11 from −1 through +6 dpi with 5×10⁴ PFU of MCMV. NK cells were depleted by 4 injections of supernatant of clone PK136 starting at the day of MCMV infection. IFN-α11-treated non-depleted mice and NK cell depleted, non-treated mice were used as control groups. At 7 dpi, viral loads in the salivary glands were determined by using a plaque assay (C). A minimum of 4 mice per group were analyzed and the mean values are shown by bars. At least 2 independent experiments were performed. Statistically significant differences between the groups are indicated by * for p<0.05, *** for p<0.0005.