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Updated: May 25, 2026

Assessing the Innate Sensing of HIV-1 Infected CD4+ T Cells by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Using an Ex vivo Co-culture System.
Published on: September 1, 2015
Cutting edge: paradoxical roles of BST2/tetherin in promoting type I IFN response and viral infection
Melissa Swiecki1, Yaming Wang, Susan Gilfillan
1Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Abstract:
Bone marrow stromal Ag 2 (BST2) is a transmembrane protein that prevents virus release from infected cells. It was also reported that BST2 inhibits type I IFN production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. To determine BST2 impact on antiviral responses in vivo, we generated BST2(-/-) mice. Following infection with a murine retrovirus, BST2(-/-) mice had slightly elevated viral loads; however, infection with other enveloped viruses revealed unexpected roles of BST2. BST2(-/-) mice showed reduced type I IFN production by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Moreover, BST2(-/-) mice had lower viral titers in lungs following intranasal infection with vesicular stomatitis virus expressing OVA and influenza B and increased numbers of virus-specific CD8 T cells in the lungs, suggesting that BST2 may facilitate entry and/or replication of enveloped viruses and modulate priming of CD8 T cells. These findings suggest complex roles of BST2 beyond retroviral control in vivo, possibly reflecting the involvement of BST2 in endocytosis and intracellular trafficking of viruses, viral nucleic acids, and Ags.
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