Enhancement of Infectivity of Insect Cell-Derived La Crosse Virus by Human Serum

Enhancement of Infectivity of Insect Cell-Derived La Crosse Virus by Human Serum

Posted by Adam Awdish on

Pooled Human Serum Off The Clot from Innovative Research was used in the following study:

 

Enhancement of Infectivity of Insect Cell-Derived La Crosse Virus by Human Serum

Maria A. Cruz, Griffith D. Parks

Virus Research
November 11, 2020

Innate cellular immune mechanisms are often the first line of defense a host organism has against viral infections. These include physical barriers like skin and mucous, antiviral inhibitors, signaling molecules such as interferon (IFN) and cytokines, etc. Some bodily fluids, such as serum, can demonstrate a broad range of antiviral activities and have been shown to act via a wide range of mechanisms. Some of these mechanisms include preventing viruses from attaching to cells, directly killing the virus, preventing replication of the virus, and so on.

Arboviruses, or viruses transmitted via arthropod vectors, are unique in that they have a dual life cycle where they replicate both in arthropods and in animals. Researchers in this study examined the in vitro interactions between human serum and La Crosse virus (LACV); LACV is a virus transmitted by the Aedes triseratus mosquito and infection typically only causes mild illness, however, a small but growing number of pediatric cases have shown the potential for LACV to lead to meningoencephalitis, seizures, and paralysis. Due to the large vector range, there is currently no approved treatment for LACV, and this combined with the increasing number of serious pediatric cases has caused LACV to be classified as an emerging threat in the United States.

It has been established that vertebrate and invertebrate cells differ in many functions which can play key roles in a virus’ mechanisms of replication. Thus, interactions between host cells and viruses can vary greatly between mammalian-derived and insect-derived viruses. Researchers in this study hypothesized that complement factors in human serum would neutralize LACV infectivity, which is what they observed other similar viruses. In contrast, however, they found that human serum contains factors that enhance the infectivity of LACV in early stages of replication. Interestingly, this increase in infectiousness was only observed in insect-derived LACV, as the mammalian-derived LACV infectivity remained stable both in incubation alone and when incubated in human serum. These results strongly suggest that mammalian and insect-derived viruses differ substantially, and insect-derived viruses can potentially increase in infectivity when introduced to human serum.

 

Related products available from Innovative Research also include:

Pooled Human Complement Serum

Pooled Human Plasma (Blood Derived)

Single Donor Human Whole Blood

  • Tags: Human Serum, Pooled Human Serum Off The Clot

    • The next big thing: it's what you do. The biological research materials you need to discover it? That's what we do! We love seeing how our products are being used in real-life applications and contributing to scientific acheivements every day. With thousands of published references and decades of proven results, you can count on us to help you source the high-quality biomaterials you need that will deliver reliable, consistent results - kit to kit, lot to lot, all study long. So what are you waiting for? All great discoveries start somewhere... yours starts with Innovative Research! Get in touch with our team today!


    Related Posts

    Innovative Research’s Role in Developing a Zero-Gravity Versatile Sample Preparation Platform (VSPP)
    The realm of space exploration continually seeks innovations that can enhance the safet...
    Read the Article
    We have biological products and research materials to assist with early phase next gen COVID vaccine research
    This autumn, as clinical trials get underway to evaluate the effectiveness of the most ...
    Read the Article
    Monoclonal Antibody to VLDLR (MA-1H10): An Explainer
    The Innovative Research lab pulled together an explainer on one of our recently popular...
    Read the Article

    ← Older Post Newer Post →

    ×