CD8A and infection: In C57BL/6 mice, four distinct patterns were discerned, based on the epitope-specific CD8+ T cell responses during acute and persistent MCMV infection (58): (i) the responses to M45 and M57 displayed the classic kinetics of expansion, contraction, and stable memory, (ii) the response to m139 peaked at day 7, rapidly contracted, then underwent memory inflation, (iii) the response to M38 peaked at day 14 but underwent only limited contraction before reaching a long-term plateau, (iv) the responses to IE3 epitopes were above background until day 35, but became robust ≥4 months after infection.