In vivo, a number of viruses, including dengue and respiratory syncytial virus, induce the release of IL-8, a cytokine that serves as a chemoattractant for neutrophils and promotes their degranulation [66, 67] . Reovirus replication in the rat lung results in neutrophilic invasion [35, 43] and studies in cell culture indicate that reovirus infection can induce IL-8 expression [68] . Thus, the capacity of reovirus to induce IL-8 secretion in vivo might facilitate the release of neutrophilic lysosomal hydrolases, including NE, into the extracellular milieu. In this report, we have shown that mammalian reovirus can utilize this acid-independent serine protease for uncoating. Our data suggest that, in vivo, one consequence of reovirus-induced IL-8 expression would be the generation of infectious NE-SVPs. Like ISVPs, these particles would be predicted to have an expanded cellular host range because they can infect cells that restrict intracellular uncoating [2] . Thus, inflammation might be predicted to exacerbate reovirus infection by promoting viral spread. Future studies using mice with deletions in the NE gene will be required to elucidate the role this protease plays during reovirus infection in the respiratory tract and other tissues. Finally, given the recent finding that endosomal proteolysis of the Ebola virus glycoprotein is necessary for infection [30] , our results raise the interesting possibility that NE or other neutrophil proteases may play a role in cell entry of other viruses. [Furlong, 1988 #81] . ISVPs were prepared by treating purified virions with chymotrypsin as described elsewhere [Nibert, 1992 #95] .