
This is part 3.6 of the "Study of MAIT Cell Activation in Viral Infections In Vivo" collection of protocols. Collection Abstract: MAIT cells are abundant, highly evolutionarily conserved innate-like lymphocytes expressing a semi-invariant T cell receptor (TCR), which recognizes microbially derived small intermediate molecules from the riboflavin biosynthetic pathway. However, in addition to their TCR-mediated functions they can also be activated in a TCR-independent manner via cytokines including IL-12, -15, -18, and type I interferon. Emerging data suggest that they are expanded and activated by a range of viral infections, and significantly that they can contribute to a protective anti-viral response. Here we describe methods used to investigate these anti-viral functions in vivo in murine models. To overcome the technical challenge that MAIT cells are rare in specific pathogen-free laboratory mice, we describe how pulmonary MAIT cells can be expanded using intranasal bacterial infection or a combination of synthetic MAIT cell antigen and TLR agonists. We also describe protocols for adoptive transfer of MAIT cells, methods for lung homogenization for plaque assays, and surface and intracellular cytokine staining to determine MAIT cell activation. Abstract: Viral plaque assays are used to determine influenza viral titers. A diluted solution of egg-adapted Influenza A viruses/lung-infected tissue homogenates are applied to a six-well tissue culture dish containing a monolayer of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. The infected MDCK cells grow under a semisolid overlay medium (agar) containing trypsin. A plaque is produced when a virus particle infects a cell, replicates, and then kills the cell. This process can be repeated several times as surrounding cells can be infected by newly replicated virus and killed. When visualized by eye, plaques appear as white spots. The assay is measured in PFU/mL.
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