In:
Journal of Virology, American Society for Microbiology, Vol. 88, No. 1 ( 2014-01), p. 292-302
Abstract:
Cytomegaloviruses (CMV) have developed various strategies to escape the immune system of the host. One strategy involves the expression of virus-encoded chemokines to modulate the host chemokine network. We have identified in the English isolate of rat CMV (murid herpesvirus 8 [MuHV8]) an open reading frame encoding a protein homologous to the chemokine XCL1, the only known C chemokine. Viral XCL1 (vXCL1), a glycosylated protein of 96 amino acids, can be detected 13 h postinfection in the supernatant of MuHV8-infected rat embryo fibroblasts. vXCL1 exclusively binds to CD4 − rat dendritic cells (DC), a subset of DC that express the corresponding chemokine receptor XCR1. Like endogenous rat XCL1, vXCL1 selectively chemoattracts XCR1 + CD4 − DC. Since XCR1 + DC in mice and humans have been shown to excel in antigen cross-presentation and thus in the induction of cytotoxic CD8 + T lymphocytes, the virus has apparently hijacked this gene to subvert cytotoxic immune responses. The biology of vXCL1 offers an interesting opportunity to study the role of XCL1 and XCR1 + DC in the cross-presentation of viral antigens.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0022-538X
,
1098-5514
DOI:
10.1128/JVI.02330-13
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society for Microbiology
Publication Date:
2014
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1495529-5