Measles virus modulates chemokine release and chemotactic responses of dendritic cells

Interference with dendritic cell (DC) maturation and function is considered to be central to measles virus (MV)-induced immunosuppression. Temporally ordered production of chemokines and switches in chemokine receptor expression are essential for pathogen-driven DC maturation as they are prerequisites for chemotaxis and T cell recruitment. We found that MV infection of immature monocyte-derived DCs induced transcripts specific for CCL-1, -2, -3, -5, -17 and -22, CXCL-10 and CXCL-11, yet did not induce CXCL-8 (interleukin-8) and CCL-20 at the mRNA and protein level. Within 24 h post-infection, T cell attraction was not detectably impaired by these cells. MV infection failed to promote the switch from CCR5 to CCR7 expression and this correlated with chemotactic responses of MV-matured DC cultures to CCL-3 rather than to CCL-19. Moreover, the chemotaxis of MV-infected DCs to either chemokine was compromised, indicating that MV also interferes with this property independently of chemokine receptor modulation.