LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002--A group of papers offering new insights into how the deadly measles virus interacts with the body's immune system is featured in a Special Focus Section in the September 2002 (Volume 15, Number 3) issue of Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com).

These studies suggest novel strategies for combating measles virus infection, which affects approximately 30 million people worldwide each year and causes nearly 1 million deaths.

One paper, entitled "Triggering of and Interference with Immune Activation: Interactions of Measles Virus with Monocytes and Dendritic Cells," authored by Sibylle Schneider-Schaulies, Ph.D, and Volker ter Meulen, M.D., of the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, explores how the measles virus is able to suppress the body's overall defenses, yet at the same time trigger a highly specific immune response directed against the measles virus. The paper may be viewed free online at www.liebertpub.com/VIM. Additional papers focus on the normal immune response to measles virus infection, including the role of T cells, B cells, and heat shock proteins.

"It is important to appreciate how quantitatively diverse normal immune responses against measles are and how little we understand the underlying mechanisms," says Stefan Niewiesk, Ph.D., Guest Editor of the Special Focus Section, who heads a research group working on measles at the Institute for Virology and Immunobiology at the University of Wuerzburg. "Understanding the normal response will help us better understand abnormal immune responses such as atypical disease and immune suppression due to measles virus."

Authors Oglesbee, Pratt, and Carsillo, in a paper entitled, "Role of Heat Shock Proteins in the Immune Response to Measles Virus Infection," present a working model of how heat shock proteins trigger a dual immune response against the infecting agent. In "Measles Virus-Specific T-Cell Immunity in Rodent Models," Weidinger demonstrates that a subset of T cells is critical in combating measles virus infection in rodents. Van Els and Nanan, in a paper entitled, "T Cell Responses in Acute Measles," describe how specific T cell responses analyzed at the single cell level can contribute to development of an improved vaccine. In "Neutralizing B Cell Response in Measles," Bouche, Ertl, and Muller explore the role of B-cells in inducing immune suppression and life-long immunity in response to measles infection.

Viral Immunology, edited by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph.D., is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published quarterly in print and online, which explores topics in viral immunology, with papers on clinical, veterinary, and laboratory research. A complete table of contents and free sample issue are available online at www.liebertpub.com/VIM.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately-held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research and AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsletters is available at www.liebertpub.com.
 

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Contact:

     Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Larchmont
     Vicki Cohn, 914/834-3100, ext. 617, vcohn@liebertpub.com
     www.liebertpub.com