REQUIREMENT OF MIP-1-ALPHA FOR AN INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE TO VIRAL-INFECTION

Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha) is a chemokine t hat has pro-inflammatory and stem cell inhibitory activities in vitro. Its biologic role in vivo was examined in mice in which the gene enco ding MIP-1 alpha had been disrupted. Homozygous MIP-1 alpha mutant (-/ -) mice were resistant to Coxsackievirus-induced myocarditis seen in i nfected wildtype (+/+) mice. Influenza virus-infected -/- mice had red uced pneumonitis and delayed clearance of the virus compared with infe cted +/+ mice. The -/- mice had no overt hematopoietic abnormalities. These results demonstrate that MIP-1 alpha is an important mediator of virus-induced inflammation in vivo.