Role of dendritic cells infected with human herpesvirus 6 in virus transmission

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Virology. 2009 Mar 15;385(2):294-302. Epub 2009 Jan 14. Links

Role of dendritic cells infected with human herpesvirus 6 in virus transmission

to CD4(+) T cells.Takemoto M, Imasawa T, Yamanishi K, Mori Y.

Laboratory of Virology and Vaccinology, National Institute of Biomedical

Innovation, Japan.

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a ubiquitous betaherpesvirus that predominantly

infects and replicates in CD4(+) T lymphocytes. However, the mechanism of HHV-6

transmission to T cells from the peripheral mucosa is unknown. Here we found

that dendritic cells (DCs) can transmit HHV-6 to T cells, resulting in

productive infection. In immature monocyte-derived DCs (MDDCs) infected with

HHV-6, viral early and late antigens were expressed, and nucleocapsids

containing a DNA core were observed, although few virions were detected in the

cytoplasm by electron microscopy, indicating that the maturation of HHV-6

virions may be incomplete in MDDCs. However, HHV-6 transmission from MDDCs to

stimulated CD4(+) T cells occurred efficiently in coculture of these cells, but

not from MDDCs culture supernatants. This transmission was partially inhibited

by treating the DCs with a viral DNA synthesis blocker, indicating that viral

replication in MDDCs is required for this transmission. Furthermore, myeloid DCs

and plasmacytoid DCs infected with HHV-6 could also transmit the virus to

stimulated T cells. Thus, DCs may be the first cell population targeted by HHV-6

and could play an important role in the virus' transmission to T cells for their

further propagation.

PMID: 19144370 [PubMed - in process]