Publication Date:
2014-02-19
Description:
Despite a rigorous blockade of interferon- (IFN-) signalling in infected fibroblasts as a mechanism of immune evasion by human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), IFN- induced indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) has been proposed to represent the major antiviral restriction factor limiting HCMV replication in epithelial cells. Here we show that HCMV efficiently blocks transcription of IFN--induced IDO mRNA both in infected fibroblasts and epithelial cells even in the presence of a preexisting IFN-induced antiviral state. This interference results in severe suppression of IDO bioactivity in HCMV-infected cells and restoration of vigorous HCMV replication. Depletion of IDO expression nonetheless substantially alleviated the antiviral impact of IFN- treatment in both cell types. These findings highlight the effectiveness of this IFN- induced effector gene in restricting HCMV productivity, but also the impact of viral counter-measures.
Print ISSN:
0022-1317
Electronic ISSN:
1465-2099
Topics:
Medicine
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