THE SUPPRESSIVE EFFECT OF CYTOMEGALOVIRUS ON BONE-MARROW - A MURINE MODEL

Cytomegalovirus infection causes significant morbidity and mortality i n patients who undergo bone marrow transplantation and in patients wit h AIDS. We studied the effect of murine cytomegalovirus on murine bone marrow cells stimulated with purified recombinant macrophage and gran ulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factors (M-CSF and GM-CSF). In a clonogenic soft agar assay, M-CSF and GM-CSF colony-forming units wer e reduced in a viral dose-dependent fashion. Bone marrow cells from ac utely infected mice were similarly affected, but those from latently i nfected mice responded normally. Infection of bone marrow cells occurr ed as measured by in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction. After infection, specific binding of M-CSF by infected bone marrow ce lls was lower than that by control cells. We conclude that CMV suppres ses hematopoiesis and that this suppression is at least partially medi ated by alteration of M-CSF binding on bone marrow cells.