Abstract
Mouse adenovirus-type 1 (MAV-1) has recently been shown to cause a fatal hemorrhagic encephalopathy in certain strains of mice whereas other strains are resistant. Morbidity is associated with a productive infection of cerebrovascular endothelial cells, resulting in necrosis of the vasculature, infarction, hemorrhage and death within 4-6 days. Previous studies were not able to define a role for the innate or acquired immune response. In the current study we have addressed the effect of MAV-1 on chemokine and chemokine receptor expression in the central nervous system (CNS) and spleen of susceptible (C57BL/6) and resistant (BALB/c) strains of mice. Intra-peritoneal infection with MAV-1 in C57BL/6 animals resulted in early and prominent induction of IP-10/crg-2 in the spleen and CNS. Increased expression of MCP-1, MIP-1α, MIP-1/β and RANTES was also noted in the CNS of MAV-1-infected C57BL/6 animals commencing around 72 h post-infection. In contrast, chemokine expression in BALB/c animals was more restricted with prominent upregulation only of MIP-2 in the CNS. In situ hybridization identified the vascular endothelium and CNS glia as the principal site of IP-10/crg-2 production in the C57BL/6 animals. The chemokine receptors CCR1-5 were upregulated in the CNS of both strains of mice. These data show that productive infection of the CNS with MAV-1 leads to the upregulation of a characteristic pattern of chemokines and their receptors, which may point to a role for these factors in disease pathogenesis.