Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 183, Issue 5, Pages 3229-3236Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.0804277
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- German Research Council (DFG)
- EC
- Marie Curie Action Miditrain [MEST-CT-2004-504990]
- Helmholtz Gemeinschaft via Helmholtz International Research School for Infection Biology
- Deutsche Krebshilfe
- Kultusministerium of Niedersachsen
- Lichtenberg PhD program
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Type I IFN is a major player in innate and adaptive immune responses. Besides, it is involved in organogenesis and tumor development. Generally, IFN responses are amplified by an autocrine loop with IFN-beta as the priming cytokine. However, due to the lack of sensitive detection systems, where and how type I IFN is produced in vivo is still poorly understood. In this study, we describe a luciferase reporter mouse, which allows tracking of IFN-beta gene induction in vivo. Using this reporter mouse, we reveal strong tissue-specific induction of IFN-beta following infection with influenza or La Crosse virus. Importantly, this reporter mouse also allowed us to visualize that IFN-beta is expressed constitutively in several tissues. As suggested before, low amounts of constitutively produced IFN might maintain immune cells in an activated state ready for a timely response to pathogens. Interestingly, thymic epithelial cells were the major source of IFN-beta under noninflammatory conditions. This relatively high constitutive expression was controlled by the NF Aire and might influence induction of tolerance or T cell development. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 183: 3229-3236.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available