Interferon-inducible chemokines and immunity to poxvirus infections

The biological roles of two interferon-inducible chemokines, monokine induc ed by gamma interferon (Mig) and cytokine responsive gene (Crg-2), in the i mmune response against vaccinia virus (VV) and ectromelia virus (EV) infect ions are discussed. To investigate their antiviral effects in viva, the exp ression profiles of these chemokines during the course of VV or EV infectio ns were first established. Mig and Crg-2 were induced in multiple organs at high levels early after infection with VV. Both chemokines were rapidly in duced in popliteal lymph nodes of C57BL/6 mice but nor in BALB/c mice follo wing infection with EV Secondly recombinant vaccinia viruses (rVV) encoding Mig or Crg-2 were constructed to investigate the immunobiology of infectio n in athymic, nude and euthymic, normal mice. Finally the EV model in combi nation with recombinant Mig and Crg-2 proteins was used to test their effec ts on viral replication and immune responses in vivo. The results of these investigations demonstrate that the mechanisms of Mig- and Crg-2-induced vi ral clearance involve natural killer cells and interferons.