scholarly journals Assessment of the infectious threshold of SARS-CoV-2 in primary airway epithelial cells

Author(s):  
Manel ESSAIDI-LAZIOSI ◽  
Francisco Javier Perez Rodriguez ◽  
Pascale Sattonnet Roche ◽  
Nicolas Hulo ◽  
Frederique Jacquerioz ◽  
...  

Comparison of virus isolation success from clinical samples across a range of viral loads inoculated in parallel on Vero E6 and human airway epithelia (HAE) showed lower success of virus isolation in HAE, suggesting an overestimation of actual infectiousness in humans using Vero E6 cell lines, commonly considered as reference.

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuefeng Deng ◽  
Wei Zou ◽  
Min Xiong ◽  
Zekun Wang ◽  
John F. Engelhardt ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) is a human parvovirus that causes acute respiratory tract infections in young children. In this study, we confirmed that, when polarized/well-differentiated human airway epithelia are infected with HBoV1 in vitro, they develop damage characterized by barrier function disruption and cell hypotrophy. Cell death mechanism analyses indicated that the infection induced pyroptotic cell death characterized by caspase-1 activation. Unlike infections with other parvoviruses, HBoV1 infection did not activate the apoptotic or necroptotic cell death pathway. When the NLRP3-ASC-caspase-1 inflammasome-induced pathway was inhibited by short hairpin RNA (shRNA), HBoV1-induced cell death dropped significantly; thus, NLRP3 mediated by ASC appears to be the pattern recognition receptor driving HBoV1 infection-induced pyroptosis. HBoV1 infection induced steady increases in the expression of interleukin 1α (IL-1α) and IL-18. HBoV1 infection was also associated with the marked expression of the antiapoptotic genes BIRC5 and IFI6. When the expression of BIRC5 and/or IFI6 was inhibited by shRNA, the infected cells underwent apoptosis rather than pyroptosis, as indicated by increased cleaved caspase-3 levels and the absence of caspase-1. BIRC5 and/or IFI6 gene inhibition also significantly reduced HBoV1 replication. Thus, HBoV1 infection of human airway epithelial cells activates antiapoptotic proteins that suppress apoptosis and promote pyroptosis. This response may have evolved to confer a replicative advantage, thus allowing HBoV1 to establish a persistent airway epithelial infection. This is the first report of pyroptosis in airway epithelia infected by a respiratory virus. IMPORTANCE Microbial infection of immune cells often induces pyroptosis, which is mediated by a cytosolic protein complex called the inflammasome that senses microbial pathogens and then activates the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1 and IL-18. While virus-infected airway epithelia often activate NLRP3 inflammasomes, studies to date suggest that these viruses kill the airway epithelial cells via the apoptotic or necrotic pathway; involvement of the pyroptosis pathway has not been reported previously. Here, we show for the first time that virus infection of human airway epithelia can also induce pyroptosis. Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1), a human parvovirus, causes lower respiratory tract infections in young children. This study indicates that HBoV1 kills airway epithelial cells by activating genes that suppress apoptosis and thereby promote pyroptosis. This strategy appears to promote HBoV1 replication and may have evolved to allow HBoV1 to establish persistent infection of human airway epithelia.


2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (2) ◽  
pp. L428-L437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Peng Jia ◽  
Joel N. Kline ◽  
Andrea Penisten ◽  
Michael A. Apicella ◽  
Theresa L. Gioannini ◽  
...  

The expression of inducible antimicrobial peptides, such as human β-defensin-2 (HBD-2) by epithelia, comprises a component of innate pulmonary defenses. We hypothesized that HBD-2 induction in airway epithelia is linked to pattern recognition receptors such as the Toll-like receptors (TLRs). We found that primary cultures of well-differentiated human airway epithelia express the mRNA for TLR-4, but little or no MD-2 mRNA, and display little HBD-2 expression in response to treatment with purified endotoxin ± LPS binding protein (LBP) and soluble CD14. Expression of endogenous MD-2 by transduction of airway epithelial cells with an adenoviral vector encoding MD-2 or extracellular addition of recombinant MD-2 both increased the responses of airway epithelia to endotoxin + LBP and sCD14 by >100-fold, as measured by NF-κB-luciferase activity and HBD-2 mRNA expression. MD-2 mRNA could be induced in airway epithelia by exposure of these cells to specific bacterial or host products (e.g., killed Haemophilus influenzae, the P6 outer membrane protein from H. influenzae, or TNF-α + IFN-γ). These findings suggest that MD-2, either coexpressed with TLR-4 or secreted when produced in excess of TLR-4 from neighboring cells, is required for airway epithelia to respond sensitively to endotoxin. The regulation of MD-2 expression in airway epithelia and pulmonary macrophages may serve as a means to modify endotoxin responsiveness in the airway.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (4) ◽  
pp. L852-L860 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Stoltz ◽  
Egon A. Ozer ◽  
Carey J. Ng ◽  
Janet M. Yu ◽  
Srinivasa T. Reddy ◽  
...  

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important cause of nosocomial infections and is frequently present in the airways of cystic fibrosis patients. Quorum sensing mediates P. aeruginosa's virulence and biofilm formation through density-dependent interbacterial signaling with autoinducers. N-3-oxododecanoyl homoserine lactone (3OC12-HSL) is the major autoinducer in P. aeruginosa. We have previously shown that human airway epithelia and paraoxonases (PONs) degrade 3OC12-HSL. This study investigated the role of PON1, PON2, and PON3 in airway epithelial cell inactivation of 3OC12-HSL. All three PONs were present in murine tracheal epithelial cells, with PON2 and PON3 expressed at the highest levels. Lysates of tracheal epithelial cells from PON2, but not PON1 or PON3, knockout mice had impaired 3OC12-HSL inactivation compared with wild-type mice. In contrast, PON1-, PON2-, or PON3-targeted deletions did not affect 3OC12-HSL degradation by intact epithelia. Overexpression of PON2 enhanced 3OC12-HSL degradation by human airway epithelial cell lysates but not by intact epithelia. Finally, using a quorum-sensing reporter strain of P. aeruginosa, we found that quorum sensing was enhanced in PON2-deficient airway epithelia. In summary, these results show that loss of PON2 impairs 3OC12-HSL degradation by airway epithelial cells and suggests that diffusion of 3OC12-HSL into the airway cells can be the rate-limiting step for degradation of the molecule.


2017 ◽  
Vol 312 (5) ◽  
pp. L688-L702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Molina ◽  
Hannah K. Moriarty ◽  
Daniel T. Infield ◽  
Barry R. Imhoff ◽  
Rachel J. Vance ◽  
...  

Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes is the most common comorbidity associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) and correlates with increased rates of lung function decline. Because glucose is a nutrient present in the airways of patients with bacterial airway infections and because insulin controls glucose metabolism, the effect of insulin on CF airway epithelia was investigated to determine the role of insulin receptors and glucose transport in regulating glucose availability in the airway. The response to insulin by human airway epithelial cells was characterized by quantitative PCR, immunoblot, immunofluorescence, and glucose uptake assays. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) activity were analyzed by pharmacological and immunoblot assays. We found that normal human primary airway epithelial cells expressed glucose transporter 4 and that application of insulin stimulated cytochalasin B-inhibitable glucose uptake, consistent with a requirement for glucose transporter translocation. Application of insulin to normal primary human airway epithelial cells promoted airway barrier function as demonstrated by increased transepithelial electrical resistance and decreased paracellular flux of small molecules. This provides the first demonstration that airway cells express insulin-regulated glucose transporters that act in concert with tight junctions to form an airway glucose barrier. However, insulin failed to increase glucose uptake or decrease paracellular flux of small molecules in human airway epithelia expressing F508del-CFTR. Insulin stimulation of Akt1 and Akt2 signaling in CF airway cells was diminished compared with that observed in airway cells expressing wild-type CFTR. These results indicate that the airway glucose barrier is regulated by insulin and is dysfunctional in CF.


2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (2) ◽  
pp. C388-C396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihua Liang ◽  
Akos Zsembery ◽  
Erik M. Schwiebert

A postulated therapeutic avenue in cystic fibrosis (CF) is activation of Ca2+-dependent Cl− channels via stimulation of Ca2+ entry from extracellular solutions independent of CFTR functional status. We have shown that extracellular zinc and ATP induce a sustained increase in cytosolic Ca2+ in human airway epithelial cells that translates into stimulation of sustained secretory Cl− transport in non-CF and CF human and mouse airway epithelial cells, cell monolayers, and nasal mucosa. On the basis of these studies, the Ca2+ entry channels most likely involved were P2X purinergic receptor channels. In the present study, molecular and biochemical data show coexpression of P2X4, P2X5, and P2X6 subtypes in non-CF (16HBE14o−) and CF (IB3-1) human bronchial epithelial cells. Other P2X receptor Ca2+ entry channel subtypes are expressed rarely or not at all in airway epithelia, epithelial cell models from other CF-relevant tissues, or vascular endothelia. Novel transient lipid transfection-mediated delivery of small interference RNA fragments specific to P2X4 and P2X6 (but not P2X5) into IB3-1 CF human airway epithelial cells inhibited extracellular zinc- and ATP-induced Ca2+ entry markedly in fura-2 Ca2+ measurements and “knocked down” protein by >65%. These data suggest that multiple P2X receptor Ca2+ entry channel subtypes are expressed in airway epithelia. P2X4 and P2X6 may coassemble on the airway surface as targets for possible therapeutics for CF independent of CFTR genotype.


Author(s):  
Aubrey Nicole Michi ◽  
David Proud

Submerged cultures of primary human airway epithelial cells, or human airway epithelial cell lines have been a mainstay of airway epithelial biology research for decades due to their robust in vitro proliferative capacity, relatively low maintenance culture conditions, and clinically translatable results to nasal or bronchial brushings. With the development and improvement of air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures of human airway epithelial cells, such cultures have been considered superior to immortalized cell lines and primary cell monolayers as such cultures effectively recapitulate in vivo epithelial architecture and cell types. Although ALI culture growth protocols are well-established and widely available, many researchers have avoided their use, as ALI cultures not only take longer to grow but also present technical challenges and limitations that make in vitro intracellular and structural assays taxing. Challenges arise relating to their complex structure, requirements for air exposure, the constraints of transwell growth apparatus, and interference in assays caused by mucus secretion. Although few publications briefly describe technical adaptations for some assays, there is still considerable trial and error required for researchers to establish consistent and reliable assay adaptations, often becoming a deterrent for pursuing mechanistic investigation. We have created a user-friendly toolbox detailing comprehensive protocols for numerous techniques and assay adaptations, particularly focusing on respiratory virus infections. By expanding the repertoire of ALI culture-adapted in vitro assays, we hope to facilitate the widespread adoption of this valuable culture system for mechanistic investigations of respiratory viral infections or other epithelial-pathogen models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98
Author(s):  
Maria Bianchi ◽  
Rinu Sivarajan ◽  
Thorsten Walles ◽  
Stephan Hackenberg ◽  
Maria Steinke

The human pathogen Bordetella pertussis targets the respiratory epithelium and causes whooping cough. Its virulence factor adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) plays an important role in the course of infection. Previous studies on the impact of CyaA on human epithelial cells have been carried out using cell lines derived from the airways or the intestinal tract. Here, we investigated the interaction of CyaA and its enzymatically inactive but fully pore-forming toxoid CyaA-AC– with primary human airway epithelial cells (hAEC) derived from different anatomical sites (nose and tracheo-bronchial region) in two-dimensional culture conditions. To assess possible differences between the response of primary hAEC and respiratory cell lines directly, we included HBEC3-KT in our studies. In comparative analyses, we studied the impact of both the toxin and the toxoid on cell viability, intracellular cAMP concentration and IL-6 secretion. We found that the selected hAEC, which lack CD11b, were differentially susceptible to both CyaA and CyaA-AC–. HBEC3-KT appeared not to be suitable for subsequent analyses. Since the nasal epithelium first gets in contact with airborne pathogens, we further studied the effect of CyaA and its toxoid on the innate immunity of three-dimensional tissue models of the human nasal mucosa. The present study reveals first insights in toxin–cell interaction using primary hAEC.


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