%0 Journal Article %A Hensler, Heather R. %A Rappocciolo, Giovanna %A Rinaldo, Charles R. %A Jenkins, Frank J. %T Cytokine production by human herpesvirus 8-infected dendritic cells %D 2009 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 90 %N 1 %P 79-83 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.006239-0 %I Microbiology Society, %X We have shown previously that human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8)-infected dendritic cells (DCs) undergo incomplete maturation and have a defective antigen-presenting function. Here, we examined the effects of HHV-8 infection on cytokine production, which is critical to the function of DCs. We detected expression of interleukin (IL)-6, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-1β, RANTES and IL-12p40 from 2 to 6 h post-infection, and these peaked by 15–24 h. Expression of these factors decreased 24–48 h post-infection, with the exception of TNF-α which remained high throughout the entire 72 h. Interestingly, while IL-12p40 expression increased post-infection, bioactive IL-12p70 was not detected in the supernatants. These results suggest an intentional skewing of cytokine production in HHV-8-infected DCs towards induction of a Th2 response. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.006239-0