The Virology and Immunobiology of Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus Infection

• Published in: Advances in Immunology Vol. 30; pp. 275 - 331
• Main Authors: Buchmeier, M.J., Welsh, R.M., Dutko, F.J., Oldstone, M.B.A.
• Format: Book Chapter Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Science & Technology 1980
• Subjects: Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; Disease Models, Animal; H-2 Antigens; Humans; Interferons - biosynthesis; Killer Cells, Natural - immunology; Lymphocytes - immunology; Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis - immunology; Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis - pathology; Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus - physiology; Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus - ultrastructure; Macrophages - immunology; Viral Proteins - metabolism; Virus Replication
• ISBN: 0120224305; 9780120224302
• ISSN: 0065-2776; 1557-8445
• DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2776(08)60197-2

This chapter presents in molecular terms the explanation for immunologic events accompanying lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) infection, including the dual recognition of viral and histocompatibility antigens essential for T cell action and the modulation of viral expression result from the immune response. It discusses the important aspects of nonimmunologic regulation of viral infection particularly the role of defective interfering virus. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and the infection it causes are important subjects of biomedical investigation. First, this virus sporadically causes human illness. The study of LCMV and the disease it causes in its natural murine host has provided the initial findings to open new fields in viral immunobiology, viral immunopathology, and cell–cell recognition. The apparent increased virulence of LCMV on passage through hamsters and the fact that LCMV infection can be transmitted from hamsters to humans suggest important concerns not only for investigators working with LCMV but for experimentalists who use hamsters or hamster tissues in their studies.