Differential neurovirulence of Usutu virus lineages in mice and neuronal cells

Marion Clé (1) , Orianne Constant (1) , Jonathan Barthelemy (1) , Caroline Desmetz (2) , Marie France Martin (3) , Lina Lapeyre (3) , Daniel Cadar (4) , Giovanni Savini (5) , Liana Teodori (5) , Federica Monaco (5) , Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit (4, 6) , Juan-Carlos Saiz (7) , Gaëlle Gonzales (8) , Sylvie Lecollinet (8) , Cécile Beck (8) , Fabien Gosselet (9) , Philippe van de Perre (1, 10) , Vincent Foulongne (1, 10) , Sara Salinas (1) , Yannick Simonin (1)

1 PCCEI - Pathogenesis and Control of Chronic and Emerging Infections
2 BC2M - Biocommunication en Cardio-Métabolique
3 IRIM - Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier
4 BNITM - Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine - Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin [Hamburg, Germany]
5 IZSAM - Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise Guiseppe Caporale
6 Department of Mathematics - University of Hamburg
7 INIA - Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria
8 VIRO - Virologie UMR1161
9 LBHE - Laboratoire de la Barrière Hémato-Encéphalique
10 CHU Montpellier

Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging neurotropic arthropod-borne virus recently involved in massive die offs of wild birds predominantly reported in Europe. Although primarily asymptomatic or presenting mild clinical signs, humans infected by USUV can develop neuroinvasive pathologies (including encephalitis and meningoencephalitis). Similar to other flaviviruses, such as West Nile virus, USUV is capable of reaching the central nervous system. However, the neuropathogenesis of USUV is still poorly understood, and the virulence of the specific USUV lineages is currently unknown. One of the major complexities of the study of USUV pathogenesis is the presence of a great diversity of lineages circulating at the same time and in the same location.

Keywords: Usutu virus; Arbovirus; Flavivirus; Neurotropism; Central nervous system

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Marion Clé, Orianne Constant, Jonathan Barthelemy, Caroline Desmetz, Marie France Martin, et al.. Differential neurovirulence of Usutu virus lineages in mice and neuronal cells. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 2021, 18 (1), pp.11. ⟨10.1186/s12974-020-02060-4⟩. ⟨hal-03126852⟩