Figure 1.

Critical immunological pathways for protective (green) versus pathogenic (red) immune responses during acute CSFV. CSFV targets both monocytic cells with their MΦ descendants and conventional and plasmacytoid DC (cDC and pDC). MΦ are mainly responsible for the typical pro-inflammatory responses, although conventional DC may contribute to this response. We propose that the large quantities of IFN-α produced by pDC play a central role in the innate immune response to CSFV. Prolonged systemic responses are associated with pathogenic host responses while time-limited production appears to promote protective adaptive Th1 effector responses.