Lessons in antiviral immunity

Human IFNAR2 deficiency: Lessons for antiviral immunity.

Type I interferon (IFN-α/β) is a fundamental antiviral defense mechanism. Mouse models have been pivotal to understanding the role of IFN-α/β in immunity, although validation of these findings in humans has been limited. We investigated a previously healthy child with fatal encephalitis after inoculation of the live attenuated measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. By targeted resequencing,...

Antiviral Immunity in Amphibians

Although a variety of virus species can infect amphibians, diseases caused by ranaviruses ([RVs]; Iridoviridae) have become prominent, and are a major concern for biodiversity, agriculture and international trade. The relatively recent and rapid increase in prevalence of RV infections, the wide range of host species infected by RVs, the variability in host resistance among population of the sam...

Competitive coexistence in antiviral immunity.

Adaptive immunity to viruses in vertebrates is mediated by two distinct but complementary branches of the immune system: the cellular response, which eliminates infected cells, and the humoral response, which eliminates infectious virus. This leads to an interesting contest, since the two responses compete, albeit indirectly, for proliferative stimuli. How can a host mount a coordinated antivir...

Persisting Humoral Antiviral Immunity

Mitochondria and antiviral innate immunity.

Mitochondria, dynamic organelles that undergo continuous cycles of fusion and fission, are the powerhouses of eukaryotic cells. Recent research indicates that mitochondria also act as platforms for antiviral immunity in vertebrates. Mitochondrial-mediated antiviral immunity depends on activation of the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors signal transduction pathway and the par...