Respiratory syncytial virus synergizes with Th2 cytokines to induce optimal levels of TARC/CCL17

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a ubiquitous virus that preferentially infects airway epithelial cells, causing asthma exacerbations and severe disease in immunocompromised hosts. Acute RSV infection induces inflammation in the lung. Thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) recruits Th2 cells to sites of inflammation. We found that acute RSV infection of BALB/c mice increased TARC production in the lung. Immunization of BALB/c mice with individual RSV proteins can lead to the development of Th1- or Th2-biased T cell responses in the lung after RSV infection. We primed animals with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing either the RSV fusion (F) protein or the RSV attachment (G) protein, inducing Th1- and Th2-biased pulmonary memory T cell responses, respectively. After RSV infection, TARC production significantly increased in the vaccinia virus G-primed animals only. These data suggest a positive feedback loop for TARC production between RSV infection and Th2 cytokines. RSV-infected lung epithelial cells cultured with IL-4 or IL-13 demonstrated a marked increase in the production of TARC. The synergistic effect of RSV and IL-4/IL-13 on TARC production reflected differential induction of NF kappa B and STAT6 by the two stimuli (both are in the TARC promoter). These findings demonstrate that RSV induces a chemokine TARC that has the potential to recruit Th2 cells to the lung.