Infection of mice with Sindbis virus (SINV) provides a model for examining the role of the immune response to alphavirus infection of the central nervous system (CNS). Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is an important component of this response, and we show that SINV-infected differentiated neurons respond to IFN-γ in vitro by induction of antiviral genes and suppression of virus replication. To determine the in vivo effects of IFN-γ on SINV clearance and T cell responses, C57BL/6 mice lacking IFN-γ or IFN-γ receptor-1 were compared to wild-type (WT) mice after intracranial SINV infection. In WT mice, IFN-γ was first produced in the CNS by natural killer cells and then by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Mice with impaired IFN-γ signaling initiated clearance of viral RNA earlier than WT mice associated with CNS entry of more granzyme B-producing CD8+ T cells. However, these mice established fewer CD8+ tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells and were more likely to experience reactivation of viral RNA synthesis late after infection. Therefore, IFN-γ suppresses the local development of granzyme B-expressing CD8+ T cells and slows viral RNA clearance but promotes CD8+ TRM cell establishment.
Keywords: NK cells; Sindbis virus; T cells; granzyme B; interferon-gamma; viral RNA clearance; viral encephalomyelitis.