Related Experiment Videos
Multiple neural cell types are infected in vitro by border disease virus
1Infectious Diseases Branch, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology
|November 1, 1987
Summary
Border disease (BD) in sheep, a congenital pestivirus infection, selectively damages the central nervous system (CNS) by affecting myelin. This study found BD virus infects multiple cell types, not just oligodendrocytes, challenging the selective tropism theory for CNS damage.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Virology
- Neuroimmunology
- Ovine Pathology
Background:
- Border disease (BD) in sheep is a congenital pestivirus infection.
- It causes selective central nervous system (CNS) pathology characterized by decreased myelination without inflammation or neuronal destruction, suggesting a specific oligodendrocyte dysfunction.
- The precise in vitro cell tropism of the BD virus remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the in vitro cell tropism of the Border disease virus (BDV).
- To determine which cell types within the ovine central and peripheral nervous systems are susceptible to BDV infection.
- To elucidate whether selective viral tropism contributes to the observed oligodendrocyte dysfunction in BD.
Main Methods:
- Primary ovine cell cultures from fetal and adult CNS and peripheral nervous system were established.
- Cultures were inoculated with the Border disease virus.
- Dual immunofluorescent labeling was used to identify infected cell types by detecting viral and cell-specific antigens.
Main Results:
- BD virus infected all major cell types tested, including oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, fibroblasts, dorsal root ganglion neurons, and Schwann cells.
- Oligodendrocytes showed earlier and longer-lasting infection compared to astrocytes and fibroblasts.
- Infectious virus was produced by all infected cell types, even after viral antigen became undetectable within cells.
Conclusions:
- The selective dysfunction of oligodendrocytes in Border disease is not attributable to a selective tropism of the virus for these cells.
- BD virus exhibits a broad cell tropism within the ovine nervous system.
- Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying selective oligodendrocyte pathology in BD.