SJL bone marrow-derived macrophages do not have IRF3 mutations and are highly susceptible to Theiler's virus infection

•We confirmed that Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-infection in bone marrow-derived macrophages is significantly greater in susceptible SJL macrophages than in resistant C57BL macrophages.•We failed to confirm two non-conservative amino acid changes in IRF3 identified previously in SJL mice or differences in IRF3 activation after infection between the two mouse strain. However, IL-6 levels were significantly greater in infected SJL macrophages late in the infectious cycle.•The data also suggest that addition of the cytokine IL-6 to infected macrophage cultures is modestly antiviral.

It is well known that SJL mice are susceptible to Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-induced demyelinating disease while C57BL6 (B6) and B10 mice are resistant, and H-2s on a B10 background (B10.S) contributes modestly to susceptibility. A recent study linked two IRF3 non-conservative mutations in SJL compared to B10.S mice to resistance to TMEV infection of SJL peritoneal-derived macrophages, an observation of practical interest in light of the central role of IRF3 transcription factor in the type I interferon (IFN) response. However, we did not find these non-conservative mutations among SJL, B10.S, B6 and B10 mice in the IRF3 amino acid sequence, and show SJL bone marrow-derived macrophages infected with TMEV exhibit increased virus RNA replication and infectious virus yields as well as greater IL-6 production than C57Bl strain (including B10.S) cultures.