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Journal of Virology, October 2008, p. 9829-9838, Vol. 82, No. 20
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01199-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Murine Coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Virus Is Recognized by MDA5 and Induces Type I Interferon in Brain Macrophages/Microglia

Jessica K. Roth-Cross, Susan J. Bender, and Susan R. Weiss^*

Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

Received 9 June 2008/ Accepted 22 July 2008

The coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) induces a minimal type I interferon (IFN) response in several cell types in vitro despite the fact that the type I IFN response is important in protecting the mouse from infection in vivo. When infected with MHV, mice deficient in IFN-associated receptor expression (IFNAR^–/–) became moribund by 48 h postinfection. MHV also replicated to higher titers and exhibited a more broad tissue tropism in these mice, which lack a type I IFN response. Interestingly, MHV induced IFN-β in the brains and livers, two main targets of MHV replication, of infected wild-type mice. MHV infection of primary cell cultures indicates that hepatocytes are not responsible for the IFN-β production in the liver during MHV infection. Furthermore, macrophages and microglia, but not neurons or astrocytes, are responsible for IFN-β production in the brain. To determine the pathway by which MHV is recognized in macrophages, IFN-β mRNA expression was quantified following MHV infection of a panel of primary bone marrow-derived macrophages generated from mice lacking different pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). Interestingly, MDA5, a PRR thought to recognize primarily picornaviruses, was required for recognition of MHV. Thus, MHV induces type I IFN in macrophages and microglia in the brains of infected animals and is recognized by an MDA5-dependent pathway in macrophages. These findings suggest that secretion of IFN-β by macrophages and microglia plays a role in protecting the host from MHV infection of the central nervous system.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, 36th Street and Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6076. Phone: (215) 898-8013. Fax: (215) 573-4858. E-mail: weisssr{at}mail.med.upenn.edu

Published ahead of print on 30 July 2008.

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Journal of Virology, October 2008, p. 9829-9838, Vol. 82, No. 20
0022-538X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01199-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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