Peripheral BloodMononuclear Phagocytes Mediate Dissemination ofMurineCytomegalovirus

(X-Gal) staining offrozen sections oforgans frominfected mice revealed that themajortarget organsincluded thespleen, adrenal glands, liver, andsalivary glands, although tissues as diverse as brownfatandlungs were alsoinvolved. Individual blue-staining cells were readily identified inallinfected tissues. Thesestudies identified a mononuclear phagocyte, possibly a macrophage or dendritic cell precursor,as thevehicle ofvirus dissemination during acuteinfection, anddemonstrate the utility ofusing lacZ-tagged murine cytomegalovirus fortropism, pathogenesis, andlatency studies.