Anti-viral and anti-tumor effects induced by an attenuated Marek’s disease virus in CD4- or CD8-deficient chickens

 By vaccination with an attenuated Marek’s disease virus (MDV), strain CVI988, chickens are protected from the development of T cell lymphoma caused by an oncogenic MDV. To clarify the role of T lymphocyte subsets in the protection mechanisms of this vaccine, vaccinated chickens were depleted of T cell subsets by neonatal thymectomy and injections of monoclonal antibodies specific to chicken CD4 and CD8 molecules, and then challenged with an oncogenic MDV, strain Md5. The MDV titers rescued from CD8+ T cells, which are the main targets for latent infection and subsequent transformation by MDV, was much higher in the CD8-deficient vaccinated chickens than in untreated vaccinated chickens at the early stage of the latent phase. However, the neonatal vaccination prevented lymphoma formation by strain Md5 even in either CD4+ or CD8+ T cell-depleted chickens. These results suggest that specific CD8+ T cell responses induced by the MD vaccine play a crucial role in the prevention of MDV infection during the latent phase, but may not be essential for the prevention of lymphoma formation by an oncogenic MDV.