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Journal article

Immune response to mouse mammary tumor virus in mice lacking the alpha/beta interferon or the gamma interferon receptor.

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  • 1998-04-03
Published in:
  • Journal of virology. - 1998
Animals
Antibodies, Viral
Antigens, Viral
Crosses, Genetic
DNA, Viral
Female
Gene Deletion
Gene Expression
Interferon-gamma
Interleukin-4
Male
Mammary Tumor Virus, Mouse
Membrane Proteins
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Proviruses
Receptor, Interferon alpha-beta
Receptors, Interferon
Retroviridae Infections
Superantigens
Time Factors
Tumor Virus Infections
English Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is a retrovirus which induces a strong immune response and a dramatic increase in the number of infected cells through the expression of a superantigen (SAg). Many cytokines are likely to be involved in the interaction between MMTV and the immune system. In particular, alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) exert many antiviral and immunomodulatory activities and play a critical role in other viral infections. In this study, we have investigated the importance of interferons during MMTV infection by using mice with a disrupted IFN-alpha/beta or IFN-gamma receptor gene. We found that the SAg response to MMTV was not modified in IFN-alpha/betaR(0/0) and IFN-gammaR(0/0) mice. This was true both for the early expansion of B and T cells induced by the SAg and for the deletion of SAg-reactive cells at later stages of the infection. In addition, no increase in the amount of proviral DNA was detected in tissues of IFN-alpha/betaR(0/0) and IFN-gammaR(0/0) mice, suggesting that interferons are not essential antiviral defense mechanisms during MMTV infection. In contrast, IFN-gammaR(0/0) mice had increased amounts of IL-4 mRNA and an altered usage of immunoglobulin isotypes with a reduced frequency of IgG2a- and IgG3-producing cells. This was associated with lower titers of virus-specific antibodies in serum early after infection, although efficient titers were reached later.
Language
  • English
Open access status
bronze
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/186358
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