A pan-orthohantavirus human lung xenograft mouse model and its utility for preclinical studies

Orthohantaviruses are emerging zoonotic viruses that can infect humans via the respiratory tract. There is an unmet need for an in vivo model to study infection of different orthohantaviruses in physiologically relevant tissue and to assess the efficacy of novel pan-orthohantavirus countermeasures. Here, we describe the use of a human lung xenograft mouse model to study the permissiveness for different orthohantavirus species and to assess its utility for preclinical testing of therapeutics. Following infection of xenografted human lung tissues, distinct orthohantavirus species differentially replicated in the human lung and subsequently spread systemically. The different orthohantaviruses primarily targeted the endothelium, respiratory epithelium and macrophages in the human lung. A proof-of-concept preclinical study showed treatment of these mice with a virus neutralizing antibody could block Andes orthohantavirus infection and dissemination. This pan-orthohantavirus model will facilitate progress in the fundamental understanding of pathogenesis and virus-host interactions for orthohantaviruses. Furthermore, it is an invaluable tool for preclinical evaluation of novel candidate pan-orthohantavirus intervention strategies.