Immunization with vaccinia virus induces polyfunctional and phenotypically distinctive CD8+ T cell responses (original) (raw)

Vaccinia virus provides protection against smallpox, with the mechanisms behind this effectiveness not entirely clear. This study employs polychromatic flow cytometry to comprehensively characterize the functional and phenotypic profiles of CD8+ T cells induced by vaccinia virus immunization. Both modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) and Dryvax immunizations elicit highly polyfunctional CD8+ T cells that display a distinct CD45RO-CD27 intermediate phenotype. The unique characteristics of these T cell responses may underlie the vaccines' efficacy against smallpox, offering a comparative benchmark for assessing other vaccine candidates.