Effects of adoptive immune transfers on murine leukemia virus-infection of rats.
In a rat model, we have investigated the effects of adoptively transferred virus-specific immune cells on an established retroviral infection of various organs. The experimental design required inoculation of neonatal Fisher rats with a molecular clone of Friend murine leukemia virus (F-MuLV; FB29) which resulted in virus-specific immunotolerance, while infection of adult rats lead to a virus-specific humoral and cellular immune response. Adoptive transfer of virus-specific immune cells from immunized to immunotolerant (i.e., neonatally inoculated) rats was performed at around 15 days postpartum, a time when retroviral titers had already reached high levels in serum, spleen, thymus, and central nervous system (CNS). Seven days post-transfer (dpt), virus titers began to decline by 3-5 logs first in sera and at around 11-15 dpt, in spleens and thymi. Approximately 19 days post-transfer viral titers increased again. In the CNS, viral titers appeared not to change after adoptive transfer, although we observed an influx of activated T-cells and natural killer cells (NK-cells), but not of B-cells, into the CNS as well as an upregulation of major histocompatibility complex class I and II molecules between 8 and 21 dpt on both microglia and other brain cells. From these data we conclude that MuLV-infected cells of lymphoid organs can be eliminated by an antiviral immune response. In the CNS, however, most virus-infected cells escaped an immunological attack in spite of the presence of T- and NK-cells and may thus function as a reservoir for MuLVs.
Hein
A
A
Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie, Würzburg, Germany.
Czub
S
S
Xiao
L X
LX
Schwender
S
S
Dörries
R
R
Czub
M
M
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002465:Cell Movement; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000276:immunology; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D013154:Spleen / Q000821:virology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000821:virology; D015854:Up-Regulation
D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II