Murine astrovirus tropism for goblet cells and enterocytes facilitates an IFN-λ response in vivo and in enteroid cultures.

ABSTRACT: Although they globally cause viral gastroenteritis in children, astroviruses are understudied due to the lack of well-defined animal models. While murine astroviruses (muAstVs) chronically infect immunodeficient mice, a culture system and understanding of their pathogenesis is lacking. Here, we describe a platform to cultivate muAstV using air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures derived from mouse enteroids, which support apical infection and release. Chronic muAstV infection occurs predominantly in the small intestine and correlates with higher interferon-lambda (IFN-λ) expression. MuAstV stimulates IFN-λ production in ALI, recapitulating our in vivo findings. We demonstrate that goblet cells and enterocytes are targets for chronic muAstV infection in vivo, and that infection is enhanced by p

SUBMITTER: Ingle H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8085034 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature