Bat airway epithelial cells: a novel tool for the study of zoonotic viruses.

ABSTRACT: Bats have been increasingly recognized as reservoir of important zoonotic viruses. However, until now many attempts to isolate bat-borne viruses in cell culture have been unsuccessful. Further, experimental studies on reservoir host species have been limited by the difficulty of rearing these species. The epithelium of the respiratory tract plays a central role during airborne transmission, as it is the first tissue encountered by viral particles. Although several cell lines from bats were established recently, no well-characterized, selectively cultured airway epithelial cells were available so far. Here, primary cells and immortalized cell lines from bats of the two important suborders Yangochiroptera and Yinpterochiroptera, Carollia perspicillata (Seba's short-tailed bat) and Eidolon he

SUBMITTER: Eckerle I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3890267 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature