A human coronavirus responsible for the common cold massively kills dendritic cells but not monocytes.

ABSTRACT: Human coronaviruses are associated with upper respiratory tract infections that occasionally spread to the lungs and other organs. Although airway epithelial cells represent an important target for infection, the respiratory epithelium is also composed of an elaborate network of dendritic cells (DCs) that are essential sentinels of the immune system, sensing pathogens and presenting foreign antigens to T lymphocytes. In this report, we show that in vitro infection by human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) induces massive cytopathic effects in DCs, including the formation of large syncytia and cell death within only few hours. In contrast, monocytes are much more resistant to infection and cytopathic effects despite similar expression levels of CD13, the membrane receptor for HCoV-229E. While t

SUBMITTER: Mesel-Lemoine M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3416289 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature