tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Viruses
. 2021 Dec 21;14(1):11.
doi: 10.3390/v14010011.
Modeling SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Mice Using Lentiviral hACE2 Vectors Infers Two Modes of Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Chaja Katzman[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tomer Israely[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sharon Melamed[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Boaz Politi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Assa Sittner[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yfat Yahalom-Ronen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Shay Weiss[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reem Abu Rass[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Rachel Zamostiano[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Eran Bacharach[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marcelo Ehrlich[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Nir Paran[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lior Nissim[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a severe global pandemic. Mice models are essential to investigate infection pathology, antiviral drugs, and vaccine development. However, wild-type mice lack the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) that mediates SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells and consequently are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. hACE2 transgenic mice could provide an efficient COVID-19 model, but are not always readily available, and practically restricted to specific strains. Therefore, there is a dearth of additional mouse models for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We applied lentiviral vectors to generate hACE2 expression in interferon receptor knock-out (IFNAR1[SUP]-/-[/SUP]) mice. Lenti-hACE2 transduction supported SARS-CoV-2 replication in vivo, simulating mild acute lung disease. Gene expression analysis revealed two modes of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection: one in response to the exposure of mouse lungs to SARS-CoV-2 particles in the absence of productive viral replication, and the second in response to productive SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our results infer that immune response to immunogenic elements on incoming virus or in productively infected cells stimulate diverse immune effectors, even in absence of type I IFN signaling. Our findings should contribute to a better understanding of the immune response triggered by SARS-CoV-2 and to further elucidate COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; hACE2; immune response; lentivirus; mouse model.
. 2021 Dec 21;14(1):11.
doi: 10.3390/v14010011.
Modeling SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Mice Using Lentiviral hACE2 Vectors Infers Two Modes of Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Chaja Katzman[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tomer Israely[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Sharon Melamed[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Boaz Politi[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Assa Sittner[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yfat Yahalom-Ronen[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Shay Weiss[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Reem Abu Rass[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Rachel Zamostiano[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Eran Bacharach[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marcelo Ehrlich[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Nir Paran[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lior Nissim[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35062215
- DOI: 10.3390/v14010011
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a severe global pandemic. Mice models are essential to investigate infection pathology, antiviral drugs, and vaccine development. However, wild-type mice lack the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) that mediates SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells and consequently are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. hACE2 transgenic mice could provide an efficient COVID-19 model, but are not always readily available, and practically restricted to specific strains. Therefore, there is a dearth of additional mouse models for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We applied lentiviral vectors to generate hACE2 expression in interferon receptor knock-out (IFNAR1[SUP]-/-[/SUP]) mice. Lenti-hACE2 transduction supported SARS-CoV-2 replication in vivo, simulating mild acute lung disease. Gene expression analysis revealed two modes of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection: one in response to the exposure of mouse lungs to SARS-CoV-2 particles in the absence of productive viral replication, and the second in response to productive SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our results infer that immune response to immunogenic elements on incoming virus or in productively infected cells stimulate diverse immune effectors, even in absence of type I IFN signaling. Our findings should contribute to a better understanding of the immune response triggered by SARS-CoV-2 and to further elucidate COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; hACE2; immune response; lentivirus; mouse model.