PLAGIARISM OF THE HOST IMMUNE-SYSTEM - LESSONS ABOUT CHEMOKINE IMMUNOLOGY FROM VIRUSES

In their attempts to evade the host immune response, mammalian viruses have evolved a wide range of strategies, These include the expression and modification of various host cytokines and receptors. Understandi ng the mechanism of action of these virally encoded proteins will clea rly deepen our insights into immunology. In the past few months severa l new virally encoded chemokines have been described which can modify both the host immune and antiviral response. Their manipulation of the cytokine structure-function relationship may also be useful in the de velopment of reagents for treating immune and proliferative diseases. (C) Current Biology Ltd ISSN 0958-1669.