HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wagner, C. S. Articles by Achour, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wagner, C. S. Articles by Achour, A.

Immune Modulation by the Human Cytomegalovirus-Encoded Molecule UL18, a Mystery Yet to Be Solved

Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

Human cytomegalovirus infects human populations at a high frequency worldwide. During the long coevolution of virus and host, a fine balance has developed between viral immune evasion strategies and defense mechanisms of the immune system. Human cytomegalovirus encodes multiple proteins involved in the evasion of immune recognition, among them UL18, a MHC class I homologue. Despite almost 20 years of research and the discovery of a broadly expressed inhibitory receptor for this protein, its function in immune modulation is not clear yet. Recent data suggest that besides inhibitory effects on various immune cells, UL18 may also act as an activating component during CMV infection. In this review, we provide an overview of the biology of UL18 and discuss several attempts to shed light on its function.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Claudia Wagner, Yale University School of Medicine, Section of Immunobiology, P. O. Box 208011, New Haven, CT 06520-8011 or Dr. Adnane Achour, Center for Infectious Medicine, F59, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, S-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden; E-mail addresses: claudia.wagner{at}yale.edu and adnane.achour{at}ki.se

² Abbreviations used in this paper: HCMV, human cytomegalovirus; β₂m, β₂-microglobulin; DC, dendritic cell; dUL18, deletion virus lacking UL18 gene; US, unique short.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Z. Yang and P. J. Bjorkman Structure of UL18, a peptide-binding viral MHC mimic, bound to a host inhibitory receptor PNAS, July 22, 2008; 105(29): 10095 - 10100. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]