title: The role of cell types in cytomegalovirus infection in vivo.
abstract: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the major viral cause of morbidity in immune compromised patients and of pre- and perinatal pathology in newborns. The clinical manifestations are highly variable and the principles which govern these differences cannot be understood without detailed knowledge on tissue specific aspects of HCMV infection. For decades the role of individual cell types during cytomegalovirus infection and disease has been discussed. The pathogenesis of mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) mirrors the human infection in many aspects. Although only MCMV infection is studied extensively at the level of organs, the relative contribution of specific cell types to viral pathogenesis in vivo has remained enigmatic. Here we discuss new approaches based on the cre/loxP-system to label nascent virus progeny or to lift a replication block. The salient aspect of this technique is the change of viral genome properties selectively in cells that express cre during infection in vivo. This allowed us to study the role of endothelial cells and hepatocytes for virus dissemination and will permit detailed studies on innate and adaptive immune responses to CMV.
authors.affiliation: Max von Pettenkofer-Institute, Ludwig Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sacher
authors.forename: Christian A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weyn
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlichting
authors.forename: Ulrich H
authors.initials: UH
authors.lastname: Koszinowski
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ruzsics
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008156:Luciferases / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018146:Muromegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D019562:Viral Load / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014775:Virus Activation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D017735:Virus Latency / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D008156:Luciferases; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases