Mammarenaviral Infection Is Dependent on Directional Exposure to and Release from Polarized Intestinal Epithelia

Warner, Nikole L.; Jokinen, Jenny D.; Beier, Juliane I.; Sokoloski, Kevin J.; Lukashevich, Igor S.

In addition to the two strains of LCMV described above, the patterns of viral entry and release of ML-29 was assessed in the polarized Caco-2 model. As shown in ( Figure 4A ) Caco-2 cells apically infected with ML-29 failed to produce detectable virus particles from the basolateral surface, despite the apparent release of infectious viral particles from the apical side. Comparative analysis indicates a 2-3-fold difference between viral apical and basolateral release during apical ML-29 infections of polarized Caco-2 cells. Curiously, infection of the polarized Caco-2 cells via the basolateral side resulted in only apical release ( Figure 4B) . Notably, the release of infectious ML-29 progeny were temporally delayed during basolateral infections, and resulted in the formation of low viral titers. Figure 4B) . Notably, the release of infectious ML-29 progeny were temporally delayed during basolateral infections, and resulted in the formation of low viral titers. Release from the Apical surface (black) and the Basolateral surface (red) is plotted with respect to time, with initial viral load subtracted. Values shown are the means of 3 biological replicates with the error bar representing the standard deviation of the mean. If viral PFUs were not observed, data received a place-holder value to signify samples were tested, but no data (ND) was collected. # indicates that one or more biological replicates was below limit of detection. * p-value ≤ 0.05.