title: Murine gammaherpesvirus-68 infection of mice: A new model for human cerebral Epstein-Barr virus infection.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus infection may cause severe neurological complications that are not mirrored by animal models. Here, we show that nasal inoculation of newborn BALB/c wild-type mice with MHV-68, a murine gammaherpesvirus, causes cerebral infection with inflammation in 50% of the animals. The inflammatory patterns are strikingly similar to those known from Epstein-Barr virus, including hydrocephalus, meningitis, cerebellitis, focal or diffuse encephalitis, and temporal lobe encephalitis. This offers a new powerful tool to study the virological and immunological characteristics of cerebral gammaherpesvirus infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany. haeusler@rwth-aachen.de
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Häusler
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sellhaus
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheithauer
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engler
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alberg
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teubner
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ritter
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kleines
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D018142:Gammaherpesvirinae; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral