Hazara virus and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus show a different pattern of entry in fully-polarized Caco-2 cell line

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Nov 24;14(11):e0008863. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008863. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) and Hazara virus (HAZV) belong to the same viral serotype and family. HAZV has lately been used as a model system and surrogate to CCHFV. However, virus-host cell interaction and level of pathogenicity for these viruses are not well investigated nor compared. In this study, we compared HAZV and CCHFV infection of human polarized epithelial cells to shed light on similarities and differences in virus-host cell interaction between these two viruses. We investigated the pattern of infection of CCHFV and HAZV in fully polarized human cells, the Caco-2 cell line. Polarization of Caco-2 cells lead to difference in expression level and pattern of proteins between the apical and the basolateral membranes. We found that CCHFV virus, in contrast to HAZV, is more likely infecting polarized cells basolaterally. In addition, we found that cytokines/pro-inflammatory factors or other viral factors secreted from CCHFV infected moDC cells enhance the entry of CCHFV contrary to HAZV. We have shown that CCHFV and HAZV early in infection use different strategies for entry. The data presented in this study also highlight the important role of cytokines in CCHFV-host cell interaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bunyaviridae Infections / pathology
  • Caco-2 Cells
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Epithelial Cells / virology*
  • Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / growth & development*
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / pathology
  • Humans
  • Nairovirus / growth & development*
  • Virus Attachment*
  • Virus Internalization*
  • Virus Replication

Grants and funding

This work has been supported by Swedish research Council 2017-05631 and 2018-05766 (AM). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.