Hepatitis C virus regulation of interferon antiviral defenses
Helene MinYi Liu and Michael Gale Jr
from: Viruses and Interferon: Current Research (Edited by: Karen Mossman). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2011)
Abstract
Mammalian cells respond to virus challenge by initiating an intracellular innate immune response that is designed to limit virus replication and to inform and modulate the ensuing adaptive immune response. Innate immune defenses are characterized by pathogen recognition receptor signaling that mediates the expression of antiviral gene products, the production of interferon α/β (IFN) and interferon-stimulated genes, and the secretion of other proinflammatory cytokines from the site of infection. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) confers a chronic infection of the liver in nearly 200 million people around the world. Hepatic innate immune defenses impose the front line of protection against HCV replication and pathogenesis. HCV infection is treated with IFN-based therapy. However, HCV most often evades hepatic innate immunity and responds overall poorly to therapy to thereby persist and a run a chronic disease course. HCV persistence has been linked to a complex combination of virus-host interactions that disrupt intracellular innate immune signaling pathways and attenuate the antiviral actions of IFN. Viral regulation of these processes breaks a critical cross-talk between innate and adaptive immunity to attenuate antiviral immune defenses and provide a foundation for chronic HCV infection read more ...
