Replication of Bunyamwera virus in mosquito cells

Abstract

The Bunyaviridae family is one of the largest among RNA viruses, comprising more than 350 serologically distinct viruses. The family is classified into five genera, Orthobunyavirus, Hantavirus, Nairovirus, Phlebovirus, and Tospovirus. Orthobunyaviruses, nairoviruses and phleboviruses are maintained in nature by a propagative cycle involving blood-feeding arthropods and susceptible vertebrate hosts. Like most arthropod-borne viruses, bunyavirus replication causes little damage to the vector, whereas infection of the mammalian host may lead to death. This situation is mimicked in the laboratory: in cultured mosquito cells no cytopathology is observed and a persistent infection is established, whereas in cultured mammalian cells orthobunyavirus infection is lytic and leads to cell death. Bunyaviruses encode four common structural proteins: an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, two glycoproteins (Gc and Gn), and a nucleoprotein N. Some viruses also code for nonstructural proteins called NSm and NSs. The NSs protein of the prototype bunyavirus, Bunyamwera virus, seems to be one of the factors responsible for the different outcomes of infection in mammalian and mosquito cell lines. However, only limited information is available on the growth of bunyaviruses in cultured mosquito cell lines other than Aedes albopictus C6/36 cells. Here, I compared the replication of Bunyamwera virus in two additional Aedes albopictus cell clones, C7-10 and U4.4, and two Aedes aegypti cell clones, Ae and A20, and investigated the impact of virus replication on cell function. In addition, whereas the vertebrate innate immune response to arbovirus infection is well studied, relatively little is known about mosquitoes’ reaction to these infections. I investigated the immune responses of the different mosquito cells to Bunyamwera virus infection, in particular antimicrobial signaling pathways (Toll and IMD) and RNA interference (RNAi). The data obtained in U4.4 cells suggest that NSs plays an important role in the infection of mosquitoes. Moreover infection of U4.4 cells more closely resembles infection in Ae and A20 cells and live Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. My data showed that the investigated cell lines have various properties, and therefore they can be used to study different aspects of mosquito-virus interactions.