Antiviral Type I and Type III Interferon Responses in the Central Nervous System
Université catholique de Louvain, de Duve Institute, VIRO B1.74.07, 74 avenue Hippocrate, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Viruses 2013, 5(3), 834-857; https://doi.org/10.3390/v5030834
Received: 4 February 2013
/
Revised: 11 March 2013
/
Accepted: 12 March 2013
/
Published: 15 March 2013
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Viruses)
The central nervous system (CNS) harbors highly differentiated cells, such as neurons that are essential to coordinate the functions of complex organisms. This organ is partly protected by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) from toxic substances and pathogens carried in the bloodstream. Yet, neurotropic viruses can reach the CNS either by crossing the BBB after viremia, or by exploiting motile infected cells as Trojan horses, or by using axonal transport. Type I and type III interferons (IFNs) are cytokines that are critical to control early steps of viral infections. Deficiencies in the IFN pathway have been associated with fatal viral encephalitis both in humans and mice. Therefore, the IFN system provides an essential protection of the CNS against viral infections. Yet, basal activity of the IFN system appears to be low within the CNS, likely owing to the toxicity of IFN to this organ. Moreover, after viral infection, neurons and oligodendrocytes were reported to be relatively poor IFN producers and appear to keep some susceptibility to neurotropic viruses, even in the presence of IFN. This review addresses some trends and recent developments concerning the role of type I and type III IFNs in: i) preventing neuroinvasion and infection of CNS cells; ii) the identity of IFN-producing cells in the CNS; iii) the antiviral activity of ISGs; and iv) the activity of viral proteins of neurotropic viruses that target the IFN pathway.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
interferon alpha/beta; interferon lambda; interferon-stimulated gene (ISG); neuron; astrocyte; neurotropic virus; axonal transport
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Sorgeloos, F.; Kreit, M.; Hermant, P.; Lardinois, C.; Michiels, T. Antiviral Type I and Type III Interferon Responses in the Central Nervous System. Viruses 2013, 5, 834-857. https://doi.org/10.3390/v5030834
AMA Style
Sorgeloos F, Kreit M, Hermant P, Lardinois C, Michiels T. Antiviral Type I and Type III Interferon Responses in the Central Nervous System. Viruses. 2013; 5(3):834-857. https://doi.org/10.3390/v5030834
Chicago/Turabian StyleSorgeloos, Frédéric, Marguerite Kreit, Pascale Hermant, Cécile Lardinois, and Thomas Michiels. 2013. "Antiviral Type I and Type III Interferon Responses in the Central Nervous System" Viruses 5, no. 3: 834-857. https://doi.org/10.3390/v5030834
Find Other Styles
