IL-21 from high-affinity CD4 T cells drives differentiation of brain-resident CD8 T cells during persistent viral infection

To investigate the effect of interleukin (IL)-21 signaling on CD8 T cells and compare IL21-receptor deficient CD8 T cells to CD8 T cells derived from CD4 T cell deficient mice, we infected IL21-receptor knock-out mice, CD4 T cell depleted mice, and wild-type mice intracranially with Mouse Polyomavirus. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of CD8 T cells derived from the brains of the mice at 30 day post infection. Overall design: Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for CD8 T cells derived from the brains of IL21-receptor knock-out mice, CD4 T cell deficient mice, or wildtype mice at 30 day post Mouse Polyomavirus infection (dpi).