Cellular responses to viral infection in humans: lessons from Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) provides a useful model to study cellular immunity to a genetically stable, persistent human virus. Different sets of proteins expressed during EBV's lytic and cell transforming infections induce qualitatively different cellular immune responses. The factors governing i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual Review of Immunology 2007-01, Vol.25 (1), p.587-617
Main Authors: Hislop, Andrew D, Taylor, Graham S, Sauce, Delphine, Rickinson, Alan B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cell Transformation, Viral - immunology
Epstein-Barr virus
Herpesvirus 4, Human - immunology
Humans
Immunity, Cellular
Immunologic Memory
Infectious Mononucleosis - immunology
Interleukin-15 - immunology
Killer Cells, Natural - immunology
T-Lymphocytes - immunology
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Summary:Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) provides a useful model to study cellular immunity to a genetically stable, persistent human virus. Different sets of proteins expressed during EBV's lytic and cell transforming infections induce qualitatively different cellular immune responses. The factors governing immunodominance hierarchies and the biological effectiveness of these different responses are now being revealed. Analysis of infectious mononucleosis (IM), a clinical syndrome that can arise during primary EBV infection, has allowed the evolution of the responses to be tracked over time, giving an understanding of the immune response kinetics and of those determinants affecting selection into memory. Furthermore, following IM, expression of the receptor for the homeostatic cytokine IL-15 on NK and T cells is lost within these individuals. This experiment of nature provides a system to advance understanding of immunological homeostasis in humans, illustrating how data obtained from the study of EBV have wider significance to the immunological community.
ISSN:0732-0582
1545-3278
1365-2567
DOI:10.1146/annurev.immunol.25.022106.141553