Tbet Deficiency Causes T Helper Cell Dependent Airways Eosinophilia and Mucus Hypersecretion in Response to Rhinovirus Infection.

Current understanding of adaptive immune, particularly T cell, responses to human rhinoviruses (RV) is limited. Memory T cells are thought to be of a primarily T helper 1 type, but both T helper 1 and T helper 2 memory cells have been described, and heightened T helper 2/ lessened T helper 1 responses have been associated with increased RV-induced asthma exacerbation severity. We examined the contribution of T helper 1 cells to RV-induced airways inflammation using mice deficient in the transcription factor T-Box Expressed In T Cells (Tbet), a critical controller of T helper 1 cell differentiation.

Rhinovirus infections and immunisation induce cross-serotype reactive antibodies to VP1.

Rhinoviruses (RVs) are ubiquitous human respiratory viruses, the major cause of common colds, acute exacerbations of asthma and other respiratory diseases. The development of antibodies to RV following primary infection is poorly understood and there is currently no RV vaccine available. We therefore used mouse models of intranasal RV infection and immunisation to determine the induction, magnitude and specificity of antibody responses.