[en] Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) persists in human sensory ganglia. One of the hypotheses to explain the induction or the maintenance of VZV latency is that it could be promoted by the immune response itself. It is known that in the case of viruses which bud off the infected cell membrane, virus-specific antibodies can induce antigenic modulation, i.e., spatial redistribution of viral antigens and modulation of their synthesis. To determine whether antigenic modulation occurs during VZV infection in vitro and could possibly be involved in viral persistence, we have grown infected cells in the presence of anti-VZV antibodies either transiently or permanently. The distribution of immune complexes and viral proteins was then analyzed. In transient immunomodulation experiments, the distribution of one or more viral antigens was modified not only in the cytoplasmic membranes but also in the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm of infected cells. When infected cells were kept permanently in the presence of antibodies, the same pattern of redistribution of immune complexes was observed and the localization of internal viral glycoproteins was significantly modified. However, antibodies did not prevent the lytic effect of infection; they altered neither the infectious virus yield nor the Western immunoblot pattern of viral proteins, suggesting that immunomodulation is not the primary effector of viral persistence.
Disciplines :
Biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology
Author, co-author :
Sadzot-Delvaux, Catherine ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > GIGA-R : Virologie et immunologie - GIGA-M : Coordination scientifique
Marc, Philippe
Lebon, Linda
Merville, Marie-Paule ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de pharmacie > Chimie médicale
Piette, Jacques ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > GIGA-R : Virologie - Immunologie - Département des sciences de la vie - GIGA-Research
Rentier, Bernard ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Services administratifs généraux > Recteur - GIGA-R : Virologie - Immunologie
Language :
English
Title :
Antibodies to varicella-zoster virus modulate antigen distribution but fail to induce viral persistence in vitro.
Publication date :
1992
Journal title :
Journal of Virology
ISSN :
0022-538X
eISSN :
1098-5514
Publisher :
American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Washington, United States - District of Columbia