Expression of genes for cytokines and cytokine-related functions in leukocytes infected with Herpes simplex virus: comparison between resistant and susceptible mouse strains

Cytokines and chemokines play an important role in the first line of defence against viral infections. Moreover, these groups of proteins also contribute significantly to regulation of the acquired immune response. Therefore, knowledge of the expression of cytokines, chemokines and factors involved in their action may provide information about the immune reaction responsible for elimination of viral infections and for immune-mediated pathology. Using cDNA arrays, we have evaluated the expression of cytokines and genes related to cytokine function in resting murine peritoneal cells and in inflammatory macrophages infected with Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 and -2. To allow comparison, the experiments were performed using both the resistant mouse strain C57BL/6 and the susceptible strain BALB/c. The work identified a group of genes that is differentially expressed during HSV infection of cells from the two strains. Another group of genes was affected by HSV-1 but not HSV-2 infection and vice versa. Further analysis of these genes may provide new information about host defense against viral infections and could also lead to identification of the molecular basis for the pathological differences between infections with HSV-1 and -2.