Human Cytomegalovirus modifies placental small extracellular vesicle secretion and composition to enhance infection of fetal recipient cells

ABSTRACT: Human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) primo-infection, reinfection and/or reactivation is a major issue during pregnancy and affects 1% of live births in western countries, making hCMV the most frequently transmitted virus in utero. Despite the extensive research conducted so far, the pathophysiology of this congenital infection remains unclear. Recently, increasing evidence point out the role of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) in cell-cell communication underlying the feto-placenta-maternal dialogue during pregnancy. In this study, we examined the impact of hCMV infection on the protein composition and function of placental sEVs. We observed that infection of placental cells led to an alteration of protein composition of their secreted sEVs, suggesting that placental sEVs may acquire a proviral phenotype. Functional studies performed on fetal recipient cells, notably neural stem cells, confirmed the ability of sEVs produced by infected cells to facilitate further infection of naive recipient cells. Altogether, our study demonstrates that placental sEVs are key players of hCMV pathophysiology during congenital infection, and may favor the transmission of the virus towards the fetus.

INSTRUMENT(S):

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human) Arabidopsis Thaliana (mouse-ear Cress)

TISSUE(S): Placenta Blood Vessel

DISEASE(S): Human Cytomegalovirus Infection

SUBMITTER: Marlene Marcellin  

LAB HEAD: Odile Burlet-Schiltz

PROVIDER: PXD029146 | Pride | 2022-10-13

REPOSITORIES: Pride