CD8⁺ T cells localize preferentially to cerebral vasculature and promote fatal vascular breakdown during ECM.

(A) Survival curve showing PbA-infected wild type (black line), CD4⁺ T cell depleted (red line), and CD8⁺ T cell depleted (green line) mice over time (n = 4–5 mice per group). CD8⁺ or CD4⁺ T cells were depleted by injecting anti-CD8 or CD4 antibodies, respectively, at d4 p.i. (B) Representative maximal projections of 3D time lapses captured through a thinned skull window and the corresponding ear of a wild type mouse seeded i.v. with 10⁴ naïve mCerulean⁺ OT-I cells (green) and then infected one day later PbA-OVA-mCherry. Time lapses were captured at d6 p.i. Blood vessels are shown red (n = 7 mice per group). See corresponding S5–S7 Movies. (C) Maximal projections captured through a thinned skull window depicting OT-I cells (green), blood vessels (red), and a volumetric mask corresponding to the vascular quantum dot signal (gray). Each row represents a different mouse. See corresponding S8 Movie. (D) Pie graph showing the percentage of luminal vs. extravascular OT-I cells at day 6 p.i. (mean ±SD; n = 5 mice). All data in this figure are representative of two independent experiments. Asterisks denote statistical significance (*P < 0.05).