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Review
. 2022 Dec;113(Pt A):109364.
doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109364. Epub 2022 Oct 22.

Poxviruses and the immune system: Implications for monkeypox virus

Amene Saghazadeh  1 , Nima Rezaei  2
Affiliations
Review

Poxviruses and the immune system: Implications for monkeypox virus

Amene Saghazadeh et al. Int Immunopharmacol. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Poxviruses (PXVs) are mostly known for the variola virus, being the cause of smallpox; however, re-emerging PXVs have also shown a great capacity to develop outbreaks of pox-like infections in humans. The situation is alarming; PXV outbreaks have been involving both endemic and non-endemic areas in recent decades. Stopped smallpox vaccination is a reason offered mainly for this changing epidemiology that implies the protective role of immunity in the pathology of PXV infections. The immune system recognizes PXVs and elicits responses, but PXVs can antagonize these responses. Here, we briefly review the immunology of PXV infections, with emphasis on the role of pattern-recognition receptors, macrophages, and natural killer cells in the early response to PXV infections and PXVs' strategies influencing these responses, as well as taking a glance at other immune cells, which discussion over them mainly occurs in association with PXV immunization rather than PXV infection. Throughout the review, numerous evasion mechanisms are highlighted, which might have implications for designing specific immunotherapies for PXV in the future.

Keywords: Immunity; Infection; Poxvirus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Toll-like receptors (TLR), the immune system, and poxviruses.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Immune cells and poxviruses (PXVs). The immune system induces all cells of the innate arm, innate-adaptive interface, and adaptive arm in PXV infection. On the other hand, PXVs can inhibit these cells to function properly through different mechanisms as listed throughout the manuscript.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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