Journal of Virology, November 2004, p. 12519-12528, Vol. 78, No. 22
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.22.12519-12528.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Granzymes and Caspase 3 Play Important Roles in Control of Gammaherpesvirus Latency
Joy Loh,1
Dori A. Thomas,2
Paula A. Revell,2
Timothy J. Ley,2 and
Herbert W. Virgin IV1*
Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Molecular Microbiology,1
Departments of Medicine and Genetics, Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri2
Received 8 April 2004/
Accepted 20 July 2004
Gammaherpesviruses can establish lifelong latent infections in lymphoid cells of their hosts despite active antiviral immunity. Identification of the immune mechanisms which regulate gammaherpesvirus latent infection is therefore essential for understanding how gammaherpesviruses persist for the lifetime of their host. Recently, an individual with chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection was found to have mutations in perforin, and studies using murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (
HV68) as a small-animal model for gammaherpesvirus infection have similarly revealed a critical role for perforin in regulating latent infection. These results suggest involvement of the perforin/granzyme granule exocytosis pathway in immune regulation of gammaherpesvirus latent infection. In this study, we examined
HV68 infection of knockout mice to identify specific molecules within the perforin/granzyme pathway which are essential for regulating gammaherpesvirus latent infection. We show that granzymes A and B and the granzyme B substrate, caspase 3, are important for regulating
HV68 latent infection. Interestingly, we show for the first time that orphan granzymes encoded in the granzyme B gene cluster are also critical for regulating viral infection. The requirement for specific granzymes differs for early versus late forms of latent infection. These data indicate that different granzymes play important and distinct roles in regulating latent gammaherpesvirus infection.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of Pathology & Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid, Box 8118, St. Louis, MO 63110. Phone: (314) 362-9223. Fax: (314) 362-4096. E-mail: virgin{at}immunology.wustl.edu.
Journal of Virology, November 2004, p. 12519-12528, Vol. 78, No. 22
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.78.22.12519-12528.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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Copyright © 2004 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.