Fig. 1

Characterization of adaptive NK cells in the late phase of acute FV infection. C57BL/6 mice were infected with FV and sacrificed at 28 dpi. Naïve animals were used as control. Single cell suspensions were prepared from spleens and livers and cells were counted. NK cells were identified by gating on lymphocytes, singlets, viable cells, CD3⁻ cells and NK1.1⁺ cells. Absolute numbers of spleen (black) and liver (white) NK cells were displayed in (a) (± SEM). Activation of splenic (black) and hepatic (white) NK cells was measured with the early activation marker CD69 (b). The mean percentage of NK cells that express memory-associated markers such as CD11b, CD27, CD62L, Ly-6C, KLRG-1 and CXCR6 are shown in (c) for splenic NK cells and in (d) for hepatic NK cells. At least eight animals from at least 3 independent experiments were used for the analysis. Statistically significant differences between naïve and FV-infected group were analyzed by an unpaired t test and are indicated by *p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.001