Dysregulated interferon-gamma responses during lethal cytomegalovirus brain infection of IL-10-deficient mice

Maxim C Cheeran, Shuxian Hu, Joseph M. Palmquist, Thomas Bakken, Genya Gekker, James R Lokensgard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) brain infection induces a transient increase in chemokine production, which precedes the infiltration of CD3+ lymphocytes. In this study, we hypothesized that an absence of anti-inflammatory cytokines would result in sustained proinflammatory neuroimmune responses. Direct intracerebroventricular injection of MCMV into IL-10 knockout (KO) mice produced an unexpected result: while wild-type animals controlled MCMV, the infection was lethal in IL-10 KO animals. Identical infection of IL-4 KO animals did not produce lethal disease. To further characterize the role of IL-10, infected brain tissue from both wild-type and IL-10 KO animals was assessed for cytokine and chemokine levels, as well as viral gene expression. These data show vastly elevated levels of interferon (IFN)-γ, and the IFN-γ-inducible chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10, as well as IL-6 in brain homogenates obtained from IL-10 KO animals. However, MCMV viral load, glycoprotein B mRNA levels, and titers of infectious virus were similar in both IL-10 KO and wild-type animals. Separation of cells isolated from murine brain tissue into distinct populations using FACS, along with subsequent quantitative RT real-time PCR, showed that brain-infiltrating CD45(hi)/CD11b(-) and CD45(hi)/CD11b(int) were the cellular source of IL-10 in the brain. Taken together, these data demonstrate that MCMV brain infection of IL-10-deficient mice causes lethal disease, which occurs in the presence of a dysregulated IFN-γ-mediated neuroimmune response.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)96-102
Number of pages7
JournalVirus research
Volume130
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2007

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank Paul Marker, University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute, for his assistance in sorting brain leukocyte populations. This study was financed by U.S. Public Health Service Grant NS-38836.

Keywords

  • Chemokines
  • Encephalitis
  • IFN-γ
  • IL-10
  • MCMV

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