Knocking on Closed Doors: Host Interferons Dynamically Regulate Blood-Brain Barrier Function during Viral Infections of the Central Nervous System

Neurotropic arboviruses capable of infecting the CNS include members of the Flaviviridae (e.g., West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses), Bunyaviridae (La Cross and Rift Valley Fever viruses), and Togaviridae (Alphavirus species) families, all RNA viruses that are maintained in complex life cycles involving a nonhuman primary vertebrate and a primary arthropod vector [1]. [...]Ifnlr1-/- exhibited normal adaptive immune responses following WNV infection, in contrast to mice deficient in type I IFN signalling [8]. [...]though IFN-[Lambda] preserves BBB integrity through similar mechanisms as type I IFN during WNV infection, the restriction of IFNLR1 to tissue barriers and the specificity of IFN-[Lambda] signaling to effects on the BBB during WNV infection make IFN-[Lambda] an exciting potential therepeutic option for neuroinvasive infections and other diseases that involve breakdown of the BBB, including CNS autoimmunity.