Morphofunctional characteristics of antigen-presenting cells in lymph node in mice with experimental West Nile fever

Innate immune control of West Nile virus infection

West Nile virus (WNV), from the Flaviviridae family, is a re-emerging zoonotic pathogen of medical importance. In humans, WNV infection may cause life-threatening meningoencephalitis or long-term neurologic sequelae. WNV is transmitted by Culex spp. mosquitoes and both the arthropod vector and the mammalian host are equipped with antiviral innate immune mechanisms sharing a common phylogeny. As far as the current evidence is able to demonstrate, mosquitoes primarily rely on RNA interference, Toll, Imd and JAK-STAT signalling pathways for limiting viral infection, while mammals are provided with these and other more complex antiviral mechanisms involving antiviral effectors, inflammatory mediators, and cellular responses triggered by highly specialized pathogen detection mechanisms that often resemble their invertebrate ancestry. This mini-review summarizes our current understanding of how the innate immune systems of the vector and the mammalian host react to WNV infection and shape its pathogenesis.

The kinetics of proinflammatory cytokines in murine peritoneal macrophages infected with envelope protein-glycosylated or non-glycosylated West Nile virus

The envelope (E) protein glycosylation status of the New York strain of West Nile (WN) virus is an important determinant of virus neuroinvasiveness. To elucidate the determinant of the difference between E protein-glycosylated and non-glycosylated WN virus infections, the cytokine expression of murine peritoneal macrophages infected with each virus was examined. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta were up-regulated with replication of the E protein-glycosylated virus. Interferon (IFN) beta and IL-6 were up-regulated with the clearance of both viruses. These results suggest that TNFalpha and IL-1beta expression are related to the virulence of E protein-glycosylated WN virus.