Specifically, we did not detect any Tat SL8 (an epitope that is immundominant in early SIV infection) specific CD8+ T cells in our tissue sections, which is most likely due to the fact that these biopsies are taken from chronically infected rhesus macaques (77-85 days post-SIV infection), and the Tat SL8 response usually escapes during the acute infection phase [17]. Here, CD8A is linked to infection.