%0 Journal Article
%T Generation of competent bone marrow-derived antigen presenting cells from the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)
%A Bennett J Davenport
%A Derall G Willis
%A Joseph Prescott
%A Regina M Farrell
%A Teresa A Coons
%A Tony Schountz
%J BMC Immunology
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2172-5-23
%X To solve this problem, we have developed an in vitro method of expanding and generating competent antigen presenting cells (APC) from deer mouse bone marrow using commercially-available house mouse (Mus musculus) granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor. These cells are capable of processing and presenting soluble protein to antigen-specific autologous helper T cells in vitro. Inclusion of antigen-specific deer mouse antibody augments T cell stimulation, presumably through Fc receptor-mediated endocytosis.The use of these APC has allowed us to dramatically expand deer mouse helper T cells in culture and should permit extensive characterization of T cell epitopes. Considering the evolutionary divergence between deer mice and house mice, it is probable that this method will be useful to other investigators using unconventional models of rodent-borne diseases.Hantaviruses (family Bunyaviridae) are rodent-borne and can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS4) or hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) [1]. While HFRS is usually associated with Eurasian hantaviruses, HCPS is caused by any of several recently described New World hantaviruses [2-4]. In North America, the great majority of HCPS cases have occurred in the western United States and Canada and were caused by Sin Nombre virus (SNV).Patients afflicted with HCPS exhibit pronounced pulmonary inflammation due to capillary leak syndrome, with the consequent hypotension often leading to rapid decline and death [5]. Virus is found in the lungs of infected humans, but without discernible cytopathology, and mononuclear infiltrates are observed that produce proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-2, IL-4, IFN-¦Ã, TNF and lymphotoxin (LT) [6], suggesting that HCPS is an immunopathologic response to the virus. To date, more than 370 infections with hantavirus have been documented in the United States, with a 36% fatality rate.Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are the principal reservoir host of SNV [4
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2172/5/23