from Marc Dalod and Christine A. Biron writing in Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention:
In addition to mediating early defense during primary infection, innate immunity delivers immunoregulatory functions to shape innate and adaptive immunity. Basic knowledge on the mechanisms inducing innate cytokine responses and the consequences for orchestrating downstream immunity is being advanced at a dramatic rate. Studies of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infections in mice have contributed many of the breakthrough discoveries in these areas. Although intrinsic differences in viruses, hosts, and infection sites result in unique host-microbe relationships, there are overlapping effects mediated by host cell subsets and molecules. Thus, the information resulting from the leading-edge characterization of responses to MCMV has set the framework for understanding responses to a variety of infections in humans and mice and provided insights on approaches for enhancing resistance to virus-induced diseases. Key areas of progress include sensing of infection, co-ordination of cellular and innate cytokine cascades, consequences for delivery of innate and adaptive immunity to mediate defense, and regulation to protect from immune-mediated damage. These are reviewed here with a focus on the early cytokine/chemokine networks as infection spreads through a host. The surprisingly elegant picture emerging is one of profound flexibility for orchestrating optimal subset innate responses to protect against diverse and complex infectious organisms.
Further reading: Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention