Ebola and Marburg Viruses Replicate in Monocyle- Derived Dendritic Cells without Inducing the Production of Cytokines and Full Maturation

Abstract

Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV) cause rapidly progressive hemorrhagic fever with high mortality and may possess specialized mechanisms to evade immune destruction. We postulated that immune evasion could be due to the ability of EBOV and MARV to interfere with dendritic cells (DCs), which link innate and adaptive immune responses. We demonstrate that EBOV and MARV infected and replicated in primary human DCs without inducing cytokine secretion. Infected DC cultures supported exponential viral growth without releasing interferon (IFN)-alpha and were impaired in IFN-alpha production if treated with double-stranded RNA. Moreover, EBOV and MARV impaired the ability of DCs to support T cell proliferation, and infected, immature DCs underwent an anomalous maturation. These findings may explain the profound virulence of EBOV and MARV-DCs are disabled, and an effective early host response is delayed by the necessary reliance on less-efficient secondary mechanisms.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 14, 2003
Accession Number
ADA430046

Entities

People

  • Case Grogan
  • Catharine M. Bosio
  • Gordon T. Ruthel
  • M. J. Aman
  • Robert J Hogan

Organizations

  • United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Adaptive Immunity
  • Biological Factors
  • Blood
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Chemistry
  • Confocal Microscopy
  • Cytokines
  • Ebola Virus
  • Immunity
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Interferon
  • Lymphocytes
  • Marburg Virus
  • Mononuclear Phagocyte System
  • Proteins
  • Viruses

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Medicine

Readers

  • Immunology and Pathology
  • Virology (or Medical Virology).