Max von Pettenkofer-Institute, Ludwig Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
Eur J Cell Biol. 2012 Jan;91(1):70-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2011.02.002. Epub 2011 Apr 13.
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the major viral cause of morbidity in immune compromised patients and of pre- and perinatal pathology in newborns. The clinical manifestations are highly variable and the principles which govern these differences cannot be understood without detailed knowledge on tissue specific aspects of HCMV infection. For decades the role of individual cell types during cytomegalovirus infection and disease has been discussed. The pathogenesis of mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) mirrors the human infection in many aspects. Although only MCMV infection is studied extensively at the level of organs, the relative contribution of specific cell types to viral pathogenesis in vivo has remained enigmatic. Here we discuss new approaches based on the cre/loxP-system to label nascent virus progeny or to lift a replication block. The salient aspect of this technique is the change of viral genome properties selectively in cells that express cre during infection in vivo. This allowed us to study the role of endothelial cells and hepatocytes for virus dissemination and will permit detailed studies on innate and adaptive immune responses to CMV.
人类巨细胞病毒（HCMV）是免疫功能低下患者发病的主要病毒原因，也是新生儿先天和围产期发病的主要原因。临床表现高度可变，如果没有关于 HCMV 感染的组织特异性方面的详细知识，就无法理解这些差异的规律。几十年来，人们一直在讨论个体细胞类型在巨细胞病毒感染和疾病中的作用。鼠巨细胞病毒（MCMV）的发病机制在许多方面与人类感染相吻合。尽管只有 MCMV 感染在器官水平上得到了广泛研究，但特定细胞类型对体内病毒发病机制的相对贡献仍然是个谜。在这里，我们讨论了基于 cre/loxP 系统的新方法，用于标记新生病毒后代或解除复制阻断。该技术的突出特点是，在体内感染过程中，在表达 cre 的细胞中选择性地改变病毒基因组特性。这使我们能够研究内皮细胞和肝细胞在病毒传播中的作用，并将允许对 CMV 的先天和适应性免疫反应进行详细研究。
