Post-exposure intranasal IFNα suppresses replication and neuroinvasion of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus within olfactory sensory neurons.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus (VEEV) may enter the central nervous system (CNS) within olfactory sensory neurons (OSN) that originate in the nasal cavity after intranasal exposure. While it is known that VEEV has evolved several mechanisms to inhibit type I interferon (IFN) signaling within infected cells, whether this inhibits virologic control during neuroinvasion along OSN has not been studied.

Methods

We utilized an established murine model of intranasal infection with VEEV and a repository of scRNAseq data from IFN-treated OSN to assess the cellular targets and IFN signaling responses after VEEV exposure.

Results

We found that immature OSN, which express higher levels of the VEEV receptor LDLRAD3 than mature OSN, are the first cells infected by

SUBMITTER: Cain MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10792865 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature