MODULATION OF CYTOKINE NETWORKS BY POXVIRUS - THE MYXOMA VIRUS MODEL

Poxviruses are large eukaryotic DNA viruses that have evolved a variet y of strategies to evade the host immune responses to virus infection. Myxoma virus is of particular interest because it is a rabbit-specifi c poxvirus that induces a defined systemic virus disease, myxomatosis, in the infected European rabbit. A variety of virus-encoded proteins that are important for subverting cellular immunity and inflammation h ave been identified, and many of these operate by modulating or subver ting cellular cytokine networks. Studies on viral proteins which media te these immune alterations reveal a multiplicity of strategies by whi ch poxviruses evade clearance from immunocompetent hosts and also iden tify a new class of immunomodulatory proteins with which to investigat e the effector functions of the immune system.