Abstract
Objectives: To study the effect of cell differentiation on the vulnerability of human neural cell types to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. Study Design/Methods: Primary cultures of human fetal neuroepithelial stem cells and differentiating neuroepithelial precursor cells were infected with HCMV strain AD169. Infectious virus production, apoptosis, and viral-associated cytopathic effects then were examined over a 5-day period. Results: HCMV established productive infection in these cells, generating 10-fold amplification of infectious virus. There was no significant difference in the percentage of apoptotic cells in HCMV-infected versus mock-infected cultures. HCMV antigen and specific cytopathic effects were observed in differentiating astrocytes and neurons, although HCMV antigen was 2-fold more frequent among postmitotic neurons. Conclusions: Neuroepithelial precursor cells and differentiating astrocytes and neurons are permissive to cytopathic HCMV infection, suggesting that the fetal human central nervous system is vulnerable to HCMV-induced neuronal injury at its earliest stages of development. (C) Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Inc.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 215-228 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Human Virology |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 4 |
State | Published - 2000 |
Keywords
- Astrocytes
- Cytomegalovirus
- Herpesvirus infections
- Neurons
- Stem cells
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Virology