title: Upregulation of class I major histocompatibility complex gene expression in primary sensory neurons, satellite cells, and Schwann cells of mice in response to acute but not latent herpes simplex virus infection in vivo.
abstract: Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) deficiency is typical of almost all resident cells in normal neural tissue. However, CD8+ T cells, which recognize antigenic peptides in the context of class I MHC molecules, are known to mediate clearance of herpes simplex virus (HSV) from spinal ganglia of experimentally infected mice, leading to the hypothesis that class I expression in the peripheral nervous system must be upregulated in response to HSV infection. In addressing this hypothesis it is shown, in BALB/c (H-2d) mice, that normally deficient class I transcripts transiently accumulate in peripheral nerve Schwann cells, ganglionic satellite cells, and primary sensory neurons, indicating that in each of these cell types class I expression is regulated at the transcriptional level in vivo. Furthermore, for 3-4 wk after infection, H-2Kd/Dd antigens are expressed by satellite and Schwann cells but not neurons, suggesting additional posttranscriptional regulation of class I synthesis in neurons. Alternatively, the class I RNAs induced in neurons may not be derived from classical class I genes. Factors regulating H-2 class I expression emanate from within infected ganglia, probably from infected neurons themselves. However, induction of class I molecules was not maintained during latency, when viral gene expression in neurons is restricted to a single region within the virus repeats. These data have implications for the long-term survival of cells in HSV-infected neural tissue.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Virology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Tscharke
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simmons
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000276:immunology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I; D006183:H-2 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000276:immunology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000276:immunology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D006183:H-2 Antigens; D012333:RNA, Messenger