Studying Epstein-Barr virus pathologies and immune surveillance by reconstructing EBV infection in mice.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a γ herpes virus endemic in humans and transforming human B lymphocytes. It causes a variety of human pathologies ranging from infectious mononucleosis upon acute infection to EBV-driven B-cell lymphomas. In humans, EBV-infected cells are under powerful immune surveillance by T and NK cells. If this immune surveillance is compromised as in immunosuppressed (AIDS- or posttransplantation) patients, the virus can spread from rare, EBV-containing cells and cause life-threatening pathologies. We have found that EBV immune surveillance and lymphomagenesis can be modeled in mice by targeted expression of key EBV proteins in the B-cell lineage. As EBV does not infect mouse B cells and mice have thus not coevolved with the virus, EBV exploits basic modes of the host immune response to optimize its coexistence with the host.
Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125 Berlin, Germany klaus.rajewsky@mdc-berlin.de tomoharu.yasuda@mdc-berlin.de.
Tomoharu
T
Yasuda
Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Tristan
T
Wirtz
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Baochun
B
Zhang
Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research, 50931 Cologne, Germany.
Thomas
T
Wunderlich
Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Marc
M
Schmidt-Supprian
Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
Thomas
T
Sommermann
Immune Regulation and Cancer, Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125 Berlin, Germany klaus.rajewsky@mdc-berlin.de tomoharu.yasuda@mdc-berlin.de.
Klaus
K
Rajewsky
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000821:virology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007157:Immunologic Surveillance; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
C037662:EBV-associated membrane antigen, Epstein-Barr virus; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins