Recently, both mouse and human pDCs have been shown able to cross-present exogenous antigens to efficiently activate naïve or memory CD8 T cells ( [120, 121] and reviewed in [117] ). Moreover, human pDCs have been demonstrated to harbor a unique, specialized endocytic compartment containing premade stores of MHC class I which allow rapid processing of exogenous antigens for cross-presentation to CD8 T cells [122] . Thus, it is quite possible that pDCs play a major role in the direct induction and maintenance of antiviral CD8 T cell responses during viral infections. However, very few studies have directly addressed the role of pDCs for T cell activation during infections with herpesviruses.