Strain-specific tropism and transcriptional responses of enterovirus D68 infection in human spinal cord organoids.

ABSTRACT: The mechanisms by which Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infection leads to acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a severe neurological condition characterized by sudden muscle weakness and paralysis, remain poorly understood. To investigate the cellular tropism and infection dynamics of EV-D68, we profiled naive and EV-D68-infected human spinal cord organoids (hSCOs) derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Examining the cellular composition of healthy hSCOs, we found that hSCOs include diverse cell types, including neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), and multipotent glial progenitor cells (mGPCs). Upon infection with 2 EV-D68 strains, US/IL/14-18952 (a B2 strain) and US/MA/18-23089 (a B3 strain), we o

SUBMITTER: Dabilla N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12672529 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature