The expression of HEL had no impact on the extent of splenic T cell proliferation, since similar CFSE profiles and HEL-specific CD4+ T cell numbers were observed in non-transgenic (nTg) control mice and sTg-IRBP:HELhi mice after infection with MCMV-HEL (Fig. 4 A,B). This evidence concerns the gene RBP3 and infection.