The human gammaherpesviruses take advantage of normal B cell differentiation pathways to establish life-long infection in memory B cells. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) infection of laboratory strains of mice also leads to life-long infection in memory B cells. To gain access to the memory B cell population, MHV68 infected B cells pass through the germinal center reaction during the onset of latency and require signals from T follicular helper (TFH) cells for proliferation. Interleukin 21 (IL-21), one of the secreted factors produced by TFH cells, plays an important role in both the maintenance of the germinal center response as well as in the generation of long-lived plasma cells. Using IL-21R deficient mice, we show that IL-21 signaling is required for efficient establishment of MHV68 infection. In the absence of IL-21 signaling, fewer infected splenocytes are able to gain access to either the germinal center B cell population or the plasma cell population – the latter being a major site of MHV68 reactivation. Furthermore, the germinal center B cell population in IL-21R-/- mice is skewed towards the non-proliferating centrocyte phenotype, resulting in reduced expansion of infected B cells. Additionally, the reduced frequency of infected plasma cells results in a significant reduction in the frequency of splenocytes capable of reactivating virus. This defect in establishment of MHV68 infection is intrinsic to B cells, as MHV68 preferentially establishes infection in IL-21R sufficient B cells in mixed bone marrow chimeric mice. Taken together, these data indicate that IL-21 signaling plays multiple roles during establishment of MHV68 infection, and identify IL-21 as a critical TFH cell-derived factor for efficient establishment of gammaherpesvirus B cell latency.
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