Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-20-2021

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This article is the author's final published version in PLoS Pathogens, Volume 17, Issue 5, May 2021, Article number e1009593

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009593

Copyright ©2021Melo-Silvaet al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication made possible in part by support from the Jefferson Open Access Fund

Abstract

Type I interferons (IFN-I) are antiviral cytokines that signal through the ubiquitous IFN-I receptor (IFNAR). Following footpad infection with ectromelia virus (ECTV), a mouse-specific pathogen, C57BL/6 (B6) mice survive without disease, while B6 mice broadly deficient in IFNAR succumb rapidly. We now show that for survival to ECTV, only hematopoietic cells require IFNAR expression. Survival to ECTV specifically requires IFNAR in both natural killer (NK) cells and monocytes. However, intrinsic IFNAR signaling is not essential for adaptive immune cell responses or to directly protect non-hematopoietic cells such as hepatocytes, which are principal ECTV targets. Mechanistically, IFNAR-deficient NK cells have reduced cytolytic function, while lack of IFNAR in monocytes dampens IFN-I production and hastens virus dissemination. Thus, during a pathogenic viral infection, IFN-I coordinates innate immunity by stimulating monocytes in a positive feedback loop and by inducing NK cell cytolytic function.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

34015056

Language

English

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