Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model.
While primarily a mosquito-borne virus, Zika virus (ZIKV; genus Flavivirus in the Flaviviridae family) is capable of being sexually transmitted. Thirty to fifty percent of men with confirmed ZIKV infection shed ZIKV RNA in their semen, and prolonged viral RNA shedding in semen can occur for more tha...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b93fb3aa020647eda7b0ce124c05fb63 2023-05-15T15:12:12+02:00 Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. Erin M McDonald Nisha K Duggal Jana M Ritter Aaron C Brault 2018-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006691 https://doaj.org/article/b93fb3aa020647eda7b0ce124c05fb63 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6091970?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006691 https://doaj.org/article/b93fb3aa020647eda7b0ce124c05fb63 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 12, Iss 8, p e0006691 (2018) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006691 2022-12-30T23:53:58Z While primarily a mosquito-borne virus, Zika virus (ZIKV; genus Flavivirus in the Flaviviridae family) is capable of being sexually transmitted. Thirty to fifty percent of men with confirmed ZIKV infection shed ZIKV RNA in their semen, and prolonged viral RNA shedding in semen can occur for more than 6 months. The cellular reservoir of ZIKV in semen is unknown, although spermatozoa have been shown to contain ZIKV RNA and antigen. Yet, spermatozoa are not a requisite for sexual transmission, as at least one case of ZIKV sexual transmission involved a vasectomized man. To determine the cellular reservoirs of ZIKV in semen, an established animal model of sexual transmission was used. The majority of virus detected in the seminal fluid of infected mice during the peak timing of sexual transmission was from the supernatant fraction, suggesting cell-free ZIKV may be largely responsible for sexual transmission. However, some ZIKV RNA was cell-associated. In the testes and epididymides of infected mice, intracellular staining of ZIKV RNA was more pronounced in spermatogenic precursors (spermatocytes and spermatogonia) than in spermatids. Visualization of intracellular negative strand ZIKV RNA demonstrated ZIKV replication intermediates in leukocytes, immature spermatids and epididymal epithelial cells in the male urogenital tract. Epididymal epithelial cells were the principal source of negative-strand ZIKV RNA during the peak timing of sexual transmission potential, indicating these cells may be the predominant source of infectious cell-free ZIKV in seminal fluid. These data promote a more complete understanding of sexual transmission of ZIKV and will inform further model development for future studies on persistent ZIKV RNA shedding. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 12 8 e0006691 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Erin M McDonald Nisha K Duggal Jana M Ritter Aaron C Brault Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
While primarily a mosquito-borne virus, Zika virus (ZIKV; genus Flavivirus in the Flaviviridae family) is capable of being sexually transmitted. Thirty to fifty percent of men with confirmed ZIKV infection shed ZIKV RNA in their semen, and prolonged viral RNA shedding in semen can occur for more than 6 months. The cellular reservoir of ZIKV in semen is unknown, although spermatozoa have been shown to contain ZIKV RNA and antigen. Yet, spermatozoa are not a requisite for sexual transmission, as at least one case of ZIKV sexual transmission involved a vasectomized man. To determine the cellular reservoirs of ZIKV in semen, an established animal model of sexual transmission was used. The majority of virus detected in the seminal fluid of infected mice during the peak timing of sexual transmission was from the supernatant fraction, suggesting cell-free ZIKV may be largely responsible for sexual transmission. However, some ZIKV RNA was cell-associated. In the testes and epididymides of infected mice, intracellular staining of ZIKV RNA was more pronounced in spermatogenic precursors (spermatocytes and spermatogonia) than in spermatids. Visualization of intracellular negative strand ZIKV RNA demonstrated ZIKV replication intermediates in leukocytes, immature spermatids and epididymal epithelial cells in the male urogenital tract. Epididymal epithelial cells were the principal source of negative-strand ZIKV RNA during the peak timing of sexual transmission potential, indicating these cells may be the predominant source of infectious cell-free ZIKV in seminal fluid. These data promote a more complete understanding of sexual transmission of ZIKV and will inform further model development for future studies on persistent ZIKV RNA shedding. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Erin M McDonald Nisha K Duggal Jana M Ritter Aaron C Brault |
author_facet |
Erin M McDonald Nisha K Duggal Jana M Ritter Aaron C Brault |
author_sort |
Erin M McDonald |
title |
Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. |
title_short |
Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. |
title_full |
Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. |
title_fullStr |
Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of Zika virus in a mouse model. |
title_sort |
infection of epididymal epithelial cells and leukocytes drives seminal shedding of zika virus in a mouse model. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006691 https://doaj.org/article/b93fb3aa020647eda7b0ce124c05fb63 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 12, Iss 8, p e0006691 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6091970?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006691 https://doaj.org/article/b93fb3aa020647eda7b0ce124c05fb63 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006691 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e0006691 |
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