Early responding dendritic cells direct local natural killer response to control HSV-1 infection within the cornea

Dendritic cells (DCs) regulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. The role of CD11c-plus DCs in the corneal response to to herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infection was investigated by depleting them prior to infection. Bone marrow cells from CD11c-DTR (C.FVB-Tg(Itgax-DTR/EGFP)57Lan/J) mice were transferred intravenously to irradiated BALB/cJ host mice. After 6 weeks, the bone marrow chimeric host mice were injected with diphtheria toxin (DT) to deplete CD11c-positive cells. Two days after injection, the mice were subjected to a standard corneal infection protocol using HSV-1.