We infected C57.BL/6, Adamts5-/-Vcan+/hdf (versican reduced), and Adamts5-/-Vcan+/+ mice with 104 pfu X31 (H3N2) influenza virus and assessed CD8+ T cell immunity in the spleen and MLN at day 10 p.i. Adamts5-/-Vcan+/hdf (versican reduced) mice showed increased numbers of total CD8+ T cells in the spleen at day 10 following infection when compared to the Adamts5-/-Vcan+/+ control group (Fig 8A). This evidence concerns the gene VCAN and infection.