Role of Ebola virus secreted glycoproteins and virus-like particles in activation of human macrophages.

Ebola virus, a member of the family Filoviridae, causes one of the most severe forms of viral hemorrhagic fever. In the terminal stages of disease, symptoms progress to hypotension, coagulation disorders, and hemorrhages, and there is prominent involvement of the mononuclear phagocytic and reticuloendothelial systems. Cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system are primary target cells and producers of inflammatory mediators.

IL-7 regulates basal homeostatic proliferation of antiviral CD4+T cell memory.

Heightened protection from infectious disease as conferred by vaccination or pathogen exposure relies on the effective generation and preservation of specific immunological memory. T cells are irreducibly required for the control of most viral infections, and maintenance of CD8(+)T cell memory is regulated by at least two cytokines, IL-7 and IL-15, which support survival (IL-7, IL-15) and basal homeostatic proliferation (IL-15) of specific CD8(+) memory T cells (T(M)). In contrast, the factors governing the homeostasis of pathogen-specific CD4(+)T(M) remain at present unknown.