Related Experiment Videos
Persistent poliovirus infection in mouse motoneurons
J Destombes1, T Couderc, D Thiesson
1URA CNRS 1448, UFR Biomédical des Saints-Pères, Paris, France. Destombes@citi2.fr
Journal of Virology
|February 1, 1997
Summary
Poliovirus (PV) can persist in the mouse spinal cord for over a year after paralysis onset. This finding supports the hypothesis that persistent poliovirus infection may cause postpolio syndrome in survivors.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Neuroscience
- Immunology
Background:
- Poliovirus (PV) causes paralytic poliomyelitis.
- Postpolio syndrome (PPS) involves new muscular symptoms in polio survivors decades after acute infection.
- Persistent PV in the spinal cord is a hypothesized cause of PPS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the persistence of poliovirus in the spinal cord after paralysis onset.
- To utilize a novel mouse model for studying long-term poliovirus infection.
Main Methods:
- A mouse-adapted PV mutant was used to induce paralysis.
- Spinal cords from paralyzed mice were analyzed using light microscopy, ultrastructural immunohistochemistry, and RT-nested PCR.
Main Results:
- PV was detected in the mouse spinal cord for at least 12 months post-paralysis.
- The study confirmed long-term poliovirus persistence in the central nervous system.
Conclusions:
- The mouse model successfully demonstrated persistent poliovirus infection in the spinal cord.
- This model offers a valuable tool for understanding the pathogenesis of postpolio syndrome.