Abstract.
Measles virus remains among the most potent global pathogens killing more than 1 million children annually. A profound suppression of general immune functions occurs during and for weeks after the acute disease, which favors secondary infections. In contrast, virus-specific immune responses are efficiently generated, mediate viral control and clearance and confer a long-lasting immunity. Because they sense pathogen-associated molecular patterns, and subsequently initiate and shape adaptive immune responses, professional antigen-presenting cells (APC) such as dendritic cells are likely to play a key role in the induction and quality of the virus-specific immune response. Key features of immune suppression associated with measles virus, however, are compatible with interference with APC maturation and function and subsequent qualitative and quantitative alterations of T cell activation.
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Acknowledgments. The authors thank Ingo Klagge for preparing the illustrations and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, the World Health Organization and the Humboldt Foundation for financial support of their laboratory work.
Correspondence to: S. Schneider-Schaulies
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Schneider-Schaulies, S., ter Meulen, V. Modulation of immune functions by measles virus. Springer Semin Immunopathol 24, 127–148 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00281-002-0101-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00281-002-0101-3