New advances in CMV and immunosenescence.
Immunosenescence, defined as the age-associated dysregulation and dysfunction of the immune system, is characterized by impaired protective immunity and decreased efficacy of vaccines. An increasing number of immunological, clinical and epidemiological studies suggest that persistent Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with accelerated aging of the immune system and with several age-related diseases. However, current evidence on whether and how human CMV (HCMV) infection is implicated in immunosenescence and in age-related diseases remains incomplete and many aspects of CMV involvement in immune aging remain controversial. The attendees of the 4th International Workshop on "CMV & Immunosenescence", held in Parma, Italy, 25-27th March, 2013, presented and discussed data related to these open questions, which are reported in this commentary.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: paolo.sansoni@unipr.it.
Paolo
P
Sansoni
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Rosanna
R
Vescovini
Immunohematology and Transfusion Center, Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Francesco F
FF
Fagnoni
Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Arne
A
Akbar
Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Ramon
R
Arens
Institute of Cell Engineering, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Yen-Ling
YL
Chiu
Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Luka
L
Cičin-Šain
Composantes Innées de la Response Immunitaire et Différenciation, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Julie
J
Dechanet-Merville
Department of Internal Medicine II, Center for Medical Research University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Evelyna
E
Derhovanessian
Laboratorio de InmunoBiología Molecular, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón and Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain; Networking Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Spain.
Sara
S
Ferrando-Martinez
Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Claudio
C
Franceschi
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Daniela
D
Frasca
Division of Geriatrics and Research Center on Aging, Department of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
Tamas
T
Fulöp
Composantes Innées de la Response Immunitaire et Différenciation, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Department of Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, CA, USA.
David
D
Furman
Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Effrossyni
E
Gkrania-Klotsas
Department of Immunobiology and the Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Felicia
F
Goodrum
Institute for Biomedical Aging Research, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Beatrix
B
Grubeck-Loebenstein
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Mikko
M
Hurme
Division of Medicine, Pathogen Host Interaction (PHI), Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Florian
F
Kern
Laboratori Sperimentali di Ricerca, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Daniele
D
Lilleri
Immunology Unity, University Pompeu Fabra and Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain.
Miguel
M
López-Botet
Section of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Andrea B
AB
Maier
Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.
Thomas
T
Marandu
Institute for Medical Immunology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Charleroi, Belgium.
Arnaud
A
Marchant
KU Leuven, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leuven, Belgium.
Catharina
C
Matheï
School of Cancer Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Paul
P
Moss
Immunology Unity, University Pompeu Fabra and Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain.
Aura
A
Muntasell
Department of Experimental Immunology and Renal Transplant Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Ester B M
EB
Remmerswaal
Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Natalie E
NE
Riddell
Section of Rheumatology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Kathrin
K
Rothe
INSERM, Infections and Immunity, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
Delphine
D
Sauce
Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases (LIID), Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea.
Eui-Cheol
EC
Shin
Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Amanda M
AM
Simanek
Department of Immunobiology and the Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Megan J
MJ
Smithey
Department of Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Cecilia
C
Söderberg-Nauclér
Immunology Unit, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Reina Sofia University Hospital, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
Rafael
R
Solana
Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Paul G
PG
Thomas
Division of Research, Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Rene
R
van Lier
Department of Internal Medicine II, Center for Medical Research University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Graham
G
Pawelec
Department of Immunobiology and the Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA. Electronic address: jnikolich@medadmin.arizona.edu.
Janko
J
Nikolich-Zugich
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D017735:Virus Latency / Q000276:immunology
Cytomegalovirus infection; Immune homeostasis; Immunosenescence; Pathologies of aging; Virus-host interaction