Characterization of human astrovirus cell entry.

Human astroviruses (HAstV) are a frequent cause of gastroenteritis in young children and immunocompromised patients. To understand the early steps of HAstV infection in the highly permissive Caco-2 cell line, the binding and entry processes of the virus were characterized. The half-time of virus binding to the cell surface was about 10 min, while virus decapsidation took around 130 min. Drugs affecting clathrin-mediated endocytosis, endosome acidification, and actin filament polymerization, as well as those that reduce the presence of cholesterol in the cell membrane, decreased the infectivity of the virus. The infection was also reduced by silencing the expression of the clathrin heavy chain (CHC) by RNA interference or by overexpression of dominant-negative mutants of dynamin 2 and Eps15. Furthermore, the entry of HAstV apparently depends on the maturation of endosomes, since the infection was reduced by silencing the expression of Rab7, a small GTPase involved in the early- to late-endosome maturation. Altogether, our results suggest that HAstV enters Caco-2 cells using a clathrin-dependent pathway and reaches late endosomes to enter cells. Here, we have characterized the mechanism used by human astroviruses, important agents of gastroenteritis in children, to gain entry into their host cells. Using a combination of biochemical and genetic tools, we found that these viruses enter Caco-2 cells using a clathrin-dependent endocytic pathway, where they most likely need to travel to late endosomes to reach the cytoplasm and begin their replication cycle.

Critical role of MDA5 in the interferon response induced by human metapneumovirus infection in dendritic cells and in vivo.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a respiratory paramyxovirus of global clinical relevance. Despite the substantial knowledge generated during the last 10 years about hMPV infection, information regarding the activation of the immune response against this virus remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that the helicase melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) is essential to induce the interferon response after hMPV infection in human and mouse dendritic cells as well as in an experimental mouse model of infection. Our findings in vitro and in vivo showed that MDA5 is required for the expression and activation of interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRFs). hMPV infection induces activation of IRF-3, and it regulates the expression of IRF-7. However, both IRF-3 and IRF-7 are critical for the production of type I and type III IFNs. In addition, our in vivo studies in hMPV-infected mice indicated that MDA5 alters viral clearance, enhances disease severity and pulmonary inflammation, and regulates the production of cytokines and chemokines in response to hMPV. These findings are relevant for a better understanding of the pathogenesis of hMPV infection.