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Updated: Dec 20, 2025
Isolation, Transfection, and Culture of Primary Human Monocytes
Published on: December 16, 2019
Cytomegaloviruses and Macrophages-Friends and Foes From Early on?
Sebastian Baasch1,2, Zsolt Ruzsics3, Philipp Henneke1,2
1Institute for Immunodeficiency, Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI), Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Starting at birth, newborn infants are exposed to numerous microorganisms. Adaptation of the innate immune system to them is a delicate process, with potentially advantageous and harmful implications for health development. Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are highly adapted to their specific mammalian hosts, with which they share millions of years of co-evolution. Throughout the history of mankind, human CMV has infected most infants in the first months of life without overt implications for health. Thus, CMV infections are intertwined with normal immune development. Nonetheless, CMV has retained substantial pathogenicity following infection in utero or in situations of immunosuppression, leading to pathology in virtually any organ and particularly the central nervous system (CNS). CMVs enter the host through mucosal interfaces of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract, where macrophages (MACs) are the most abundant immune cell type. Tissue MACs and their potential progenitors, monocytes, are established target cells of CMVs. Recently, several discoveries have revolutionized our understanding on the pre- and postnatal development and site-specific adaptation of tissue MACs. In this review, we explore experimental evidences and concepts on how CMV infections may impact on MAC development and activation as part of host-virus co-adaptation.
Insights
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections are common in infants and intertwined with immune development. This review explores how CMV impacts macrophage development and activation, crucial for host-virus co-adaptation.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Virology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Newborns encounter microbes, requiring innate immune system adaptation with health implications.
- Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) co-evolved with humans, typically infecting infants without severe consequences, influencing immune development.
- CMV remains pathogenic in utero or during immunosuppression, affecting multiple organs, including the central nervous system (CNS).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the impact of CMV infection on macrophage (MAC) development and activation.
- To explore host-virus co-adaptation mechanisms involving CMV and tissue MACs.
- To integrate recent discoveries on tissue MAC development with CMV infection dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Review of experimental evidence and conceptual frameworks.
- Analysis of CMV's interaction with monocytes and tissue MACs.
- Exploration of pre- and postnatal MAC development in the context of viral infection.
Main Results:
- CMV targets monocytes and tissue MACs, key immune cells at mucosal entry sites.
- Recent advances illuminate tissue MAC development and site-specific adaptation.
- CMV infection dynamics are closely linked to normal immune development processes.
Conclusions:
- CMV infection significantly influences the development and activation of macrophages.
- Understanding this interaction is key to comprehending host-virus co-adaptation.
- CMV's role in immune development highlights its complex relationship with the host.
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