Induction of selected chemokines in glial cells infected with Theiler's virus

To elucidate the early events in Theiler's virus-induced demyelination, a m odel for human multiple sclerosis (MS), chemokine gene activation in the ce ntral nervous system (CNS) resident cells upon viral infection was investig ated. Viral infection selectively upregulated RANTES and IP-10 gene express ion in primary astrocyte cultures and broader chemokine genes in oligodendr ocyte and microglia cultures. Both RANTES and IP-10 were stimulated by proi nflammatory cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN gamma), but only RANTES by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), suggesting that virus infection induces chemokines overlapping with those inducible by proinflammatory cytokines. These results suggest that glial cells, astrocytes in particular, may be cr itical for early recruitment or inflammatory cells in the initiation of vir us-induced, immune-mediated demyelination. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.