Human Neurons Mount Innate Immune Response During Viral Attack

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 23 Oct 2005 - 16:00 PDT

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Human neurons may mount an innate immune response specific to the type of viral infection say researchers from France. Their findings appear in the October 2005 issue of the Journal of Virology.

In the study researches infected human neuron cell lines with rabies virus (RABV) and herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) and analyzed changes in gene expression. Results showed that both viruses increased the transcription of genes indicative of an innate immune response, however the genes that were turned on differed based on the virus. For example, increased gene expression following RABV infection included those responsible for the production of the cytokine beta interferon while infection with HSV-1 did not.

"Human neurons have the machinery to sense viral infection, and the nature of the innate immune response depends on the nature of the infection," say the researchers.

(C. Prehaud, F. Megret, M. Lafage, M. Lafon. 2005. Virus infection switches TLR-3-positive human neurons to become strong producers of beta interferon. Journal of Virology, 79. 20: 12893-12904.)

Carrie Patterson
cpatterson@asmusa.org
American Society for Microbiology
http://www.asm.org
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