Role of chemokines and their receptors in viral persistence and liver damage during chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Figure 2 Different migration potential between resolved and persistent HCV infection. In a resolved infection HCV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) migrate rapidly to the infected liver, attracted by the chemokines produced by hepatocytes, succeeding in controlling HCV infection without liver damage. In persistent infection the migration of T cells to the liver may be impaired. High chemokine levels during infection may induce chemokine receptor down-regulation on T cells by molecule internalization. This mechanism could impair the migration of specific T cells during primary infection, which could inhibit HCV clearance. During the chronic phase, the persistent presence of HCV in the liver could keep a long-standing chemokine production, which could attract non-specific mononuclear cells to the liver, and be responsible for chronic liver damage. The relative migration impairment due to chemokine receptor down-regulation on non-specific T cells could modulate inflammatory infiltration of the liver, inducing chronic low-grade liver damage, which could favour host and virus long-term survival.