Untersuchung des Einflusses von regulatorischen T Zellen auf die Immunantwort gegen eine Maus-Cytomegalovirus-Infektion

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Cytomegaloviruses are widespread, important pathogens that interact with their hosts in a complex fashion. They encode a large number of immunomodulatory genes interfering specifically with different processes of the immune response. Recently, it has been shown that cytomegaloviruses infect dendritic cells which are responsible for the elicitation of an adaptive immune response, rendering them unable to perform that function. We have been able to identify the viral gene that specifically downmodulates the cell surface expression of the costimulatory molecule CD86, the gene modB7-2 (Loewendorf et al., 2004). In this respect it is important that DC lacking costimulatory molecules are involved in the generation of regulatory T cells. These cells have been shown to be relevant for the balance of immune responses by restricting effector T cell responses against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and other pathogens. The aim of the outlined project is the identification of regulatory T cells and the characterization of their in vivo role during a MCMV infection. Furthermore, it sets out to assess the importance of the modulation of DC for the induction of regulatory T cells and the specific role of the immunomodulatory gene modB7-2 in this context. The thereby acquired data will provide a first insight into a yet uninvestigated aspect of the interaction of a highly adapted pathogen with the immune system.