Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus infection of astrocytes induces the expression of chemokines which attract activated but not resting T lymphocytes

In this article, we studied the production of the chemokine CXCL9, also termed Mig (monokine induced by gamma interferon) by cultured SJL/J mouse astrocytes infected with the BeAn strain of Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV). This picornavirus induces demyelination in the SJL/J genetically susceptible strain of mice through an immune process mediated by CD4+ Th1 T cells. Those cells were chemoattracted by chemokines inside the central nervous system (CNS) after blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption.