JVI Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Other Versions of this Article:
JVI.01437-06v1
81/2/783    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bitko, V.
Right arrow Articles by Barik, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bitko, V.
Right arrow Articles by Barik, S.
Journal of Virology, January 2007, p. 783-790, Vol. 81, No. 2
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01437-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Viral Infection of the Lungs through the Eye{triangledown}

Vira Bitko, Alla Musiyenko, and Sailen Barik*

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (MSB 2370), University of South Alabama, College of Medicine, 307 University Blvd., Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002

Received 7 July 2006/ Accepted 5 October 2006

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the foremost respiratory pathogen in newborns and claims millions of lives annually. However, there has been no methodical study of the pathway(s) of entry of RSV or its interaction with nonrespiratory tissues. We and others have recently established a significant association between allergic conjunctivitis and the presence of RSV in the eye. Here we adopt a BALB/c mouse model and demonstrate that when instilled in the live murine eye, RSV not only replicated robustly in the eye but also migrated to the lung and produced a respiratory disease that is indistinguishable from the standard, nasally acquired RSV disease. Ocularly applied synthetic anti-RSV small interfering RNA prevented infection of the eye as well as the lung. RSV infection of the eye activated a plethora of ocular cytokines and chemokines with profound relevance to inflammation of the eye. Anticytokine treatments in the eye reduced ocular inflammation but had no effect on viral growth in both eye and lung, demonstrating a role of the cytokine response in ocular pathology. These results establish the eye as a major gateway of respiratory infection and a respiratory virus as a bona fide eye pathogen, thus offering novel intervention and treatment options.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (MSB 2370), University of South Alabama, College of Medicine, 307 University Blvd., Mobile, AL 36688-0002. Phone: (251) 460-6860. Fax: (251) 460-6850. E-mail: sbarik{at}jaguar1.usouthal.edu.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 18 October 2006.

Journal of Virology, January 2007, p. 783-790, Vol. 81, No. 2
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01437-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Mol. Cell. Biol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2007 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.