Deciphering Fc-mediated Antiviral Antibody Functions in Animal Models

Schmaljohn, Alan L.; Orlandi, Chiara; Lewis, George K.

The scientific narrative on immunity to microbial pathogens has proceeded in waves, with peaks and troughs of emphasis on phagocytic cells, Abs, T cells, innate immunity, regulatory signaling, genomic analyses of immune repertoires, mechanisms of pathogen evasion of host responses, and so forth. Confounding the shifts in perceived importance of various aspects of immunity, there are differences in understanding of operational terms and their acronyms; a few of them used in this manuscript, and their intended meaning, are shown in Box 1. It is in this context, and with recognition that there already exist excellent recent reviews on discrete aspects of FcR-dependent antiviral immunity (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) , that we aspire to offer a brief and possibly more holistic view of just one important aspect of virus-host interactions: the interactions between Abs, viral Ags, FcR, and FcR-bearing cells. We share in the anticipation and excitement of how emerging technologies may offer new experimental insights into complex processes that were previously suspected but unapproachable.