Frontiers in Immunology (Sep 2024)

Varicella-zoster virus recapitulates its immune evasive behaviour in matured hiPSC-derived neurospheroids

  • Jonas Govaerts,
  • Jonas Govaerts,
  • Jonas Govaerts,
  • Elise Van Breedam,
  • Sarah De Beuckeleer,
  • Sarah De Beuckeleer,
  • Sarah De Beuckeleer,
  • Charlotte Goethals,
  • Claudio Peter D’Incal,
  • Julia Di Stefano,
  • Siebe Van Calster,
  • Tamariche Buyle-Huybrecht,
  • Tamariche Buyle-Huybrecht,
  • Tamariche Buyle-Huybrecht,
  • Marlies Boeren,
  • Marlies Boeren,
  • Marlies Boeren,
  • Hans De Reu,
  • Hans De Reu,
  • Søren R. Paludan,
  • Marc Thiry,
  • Marielle Lebrun,
  • Catherine Sadzot-Delvaux,
  • Helena Motaln,
  • Boris Rogelj,
  • Boris Rogelj,
  • Johan Van Weyenbergh,
  • Winnok H. De Vos,
  • Winnok H. De Vos,
  • Wim Vanden Berghe,
  • Benson Ogunjimi,
  • Benson Ogunjimi,
  • Benson Ogunjimi,
  • Benson Ogunjimi,
  • Peter Delputte,
  • Peter Delputte,
  • Peter Ponsaerts,
  • Peter Ponsaerts

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1458967
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

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Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) encephalitis and meningitis are potential central nervous system (CNS) complications following primary VZV infection or reactivation. With Type-I interferon (IFN) signalling being an important first line cellular defence mechanism against VZV infection by the peripheral tissues, we here investigated the triggering of innate immune responses in a human neural-like environment. For this, we established and characterised 5-month matured hiPSC-derived neurospheroids (NSPHs) containing neurons and astrocytes. Subsequently, NSPHs were infected with reporter strains of VZV (VZVeGFP-ORF23) or Sendai virus (SeVeGFP), with the latter serving as an immune-activating positive control. Live cell and immunocytochemical analyses demonstrated VZVeGFP-ORF23 infection throughout the NSPHs, while SeVeGFP infection was limited to the outer NSPH border. Next, NanoString digital transcriptomics revealed that SeVeGFP-infected NSPHs activated a clear Type-I IFN response, while this was not the case in VZVeGFP-ORF23-infected NSPHs. Moreover, the latter displayed a strong suppression of genes related to IFN signalling and antigen presentation, as further demonstrated by suppression of IL-6 and CXCL10 production, failure to upregulate Type-I IFN activated anti-viral proteins (Mx1, IFIT2 and ISG15), as well as reduced expression of CD74, a key-protein in the MHC class II antigen presentation pathway. Finally, even though VZVeGFP-ORF23-infection seems to be immunologically ignored in NSPHs, its presence does result in the formation of stress granules upon long-term infection, as well as disruption of cellular integrity within the infected NSPHs. Concluding, in this study we demonstrate that 5-month matured hiPSC-derived NSPHs display functional innate immune reactivity towards SeV infection, and have the capacity to recapitulate the strong immune evasive behaviour towards VZV.

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