Importantly, thelevel of 2B4 expression was selectively increased on HCV-specific CD8+ Tcells as compared to the respective bulk CD8+ T cells (mean ratio MFI chrHC2.1±2.4; see Figure1d) in chronic hepatitis C. In contrast, virus-specific CD8+ Tcells from patients with acute HCV or HBV infection showed almost equal 2B4expression intensities as compared to the respective bulk CD8+ T cells(mean ratio MFI acHC 1.1±0.3 and mean ratio MFI acHB 1.2±0.5,respectively). The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is chronic hepatitis C virus infection.