GDVII and DA strains of Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) differ in VP2 puff B. One week after GDVII virus infection, SJL/J mice had large numbers of TUNEL+ apoptotic cells with a relative lack of T cell infiltration in the brain. DA viruses with mutation in puff B induced higher levels of apoptosis than wild-type DA virus, but levels of inflammation in brains were similar between DA and DA virus mutants. The difference in inflammation among TMEVs could be due to TGF-beta1 expression that was seen only in GDVII virus infection and negatively correlated with CD3+ T cell infiltration.
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