Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
J Virol, March 1998, p. 2316-2322, Vol. 72, No. 3
INSERM U.3951 and
INSERM U.326,2 Toulouse, France
Received 28 August 1997/Accepted 14 November 1997
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection can be fatal to
immunocompromised individuals. We have previously reported that gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Distinct Pathways for Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha
and Ceramides in Human Cytomegalovirus Infection
) synergistically inhibit HCMV replication in vitro. Ceramides have been described as
second messengers induced by TNF-
. To investigate the mechanisms involved in the inhibition of HCMV by TNF-
, in the present study we
have analyzed ceramide production by U373 MG astrocytoma cells and the
effects of TNF-
versus ceramides on HCMV replication. Our results
show that U373 MG cells did not produce ceramides upon incubation with
TNF-
. Moreover, long-chain ceramides induced by treatment with
exogenous bacterial sphingomyelinase inhibited HCMV replication in
synergy with TNF-
. Surprisingly, short-chain permeant C6-ceramide
increased viral replication. Our results show that the anti-HCMV
activity of TNF-
is independent of ceramides. In addition, our
results suggest that TNF-
and endogenous long-chain ceramides use
separate pathways of cell signalling to inhibit HCMV replication, while
permeant C6-ceramide appears to activate a third pathway leading to an
opposite effect.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: INSERM U.395,
CHU Purpan, BP 3028, 31024 Toulouse CEDEX, France. Phone: (33) 5 62 74 83 76. Fax: (33) 5 61 31 97 52. E-mail:
davignon{at}purpan.inserm.fr.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»