| Abstract
| - The expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA-DR) and interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R; α and β subunits) was significantly increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-seropositive donors when PBMC were cultured with VZV antigen for 6 days. The increased expression of HLA-DR and IL-2R was observed in both CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, which suggests that both types of lymphocytes from VZV-seropositive donors were activated when PBMC were cultured with VZV antigen. Adding anti-IL-2Rα did not inhibit lymphocyte proliferation in response to VZV antigen, although marked inhibition was obtained by adding anti-IL-2Rβ, No IL-2 was detected in the supernatant of PBMC cultured with VZV antigen; however, antibody to IL-2 inhibited lymphocyte proliferation on exposure to VZV antigen. These results indicate that IL-2 and expression of IL-2Rβ are essential to lymphocyte activation by VZV antigen.
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