Dengue virus susceptibility in novel immortalized myeloid cells

Human dendritic cells (DCs) are the main target cells of dengue virus (DENV). Because humans injected with even a small volume of DENV from mosquito saliva display a high level of viremia, DCs are expected to be highly susceptible to DENV. In the present study, we assessed the efficiency of DENV infection using the novel immortalized human myeloid cell lines iPS-ML and iPS-DC. To prepare the DC-like myeloid cell line (iPS-DC), iPS-ML cells were cultured in the presence of IL-4 for 72 h. iPS-DC cells were the most susceptible to DENV, followed by iPS-ML, Vero and K562 cells. In contrast, the highest infective yield titer was observed in Vero cells. To investigate further uses of iPS-ML and iPS-DC, these cells were applied to an assay measuring antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) activity in DENV infection. Serum samples collected from healthy Thai participants and mouse monoclonal antibodies displayed similar ADE activity patterns when examined with iPS-ML, iPS-DC, or K562 cells, the last of which are usually used in conventional ADE assays. Interestingly, iPS-ML cells showed greater susceptibility to ADE activity than iPS-DC and K562 cells. Here, we demonstrated the potential utility of the novel immortalized human myeloid cell lines iPS-ML and iPS-DC in future research on DENV.