In this respect, it is of interest to note that abrogation of exclusively the CD28/B7 or the CD27/CD70 pathway severely hampers MCMV- and VV-specific CD8+ T cell responses (Arens et al., 2011b; Salek-Ardakani et al., 2011; Welten et al., 2013b), indicating that in these infections the costimulatory molecule levels are likely limited leading to non-redundant roles of costimulatory molecules. This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and infection.