Functional analysis of the rat cytomegalovirus CD200 homologue

The interaction between CD200 and its inhibitory receptor CD200R is known to transmit an inhibitory signal to immune cells that express CD200R. The acquisition of genes that are similar to cd200 by viruses contributes to an effective host immune evasion. RCMV e127 has been described as a homologue of rat CD200 and is able to bind CD200R. The aim of this thesis was to examine if e127 is a functional homologue. In conclusion, this work supports the growing importance of viral CD200 homologues in immune evasion and provides an animal model to study the impact of viral CD200 homologues on the anti-viral immune response.