A human cerebral organoid model of West Nile virus encephalitis shows innate immunocompetency - PubMed
5 days ago
- #organoid model
- #encephalitis
- #West Nile virus
- West Nile virus (WNV) can cause neuroinvasive disease in humans with no current vaccine or specific treatment available.
- A human cerebral organoid model was developed using male iPSCs to study WNV encephalitis.
- The model shows heterogeneous infection kinetics with early strong replication potentially leading to viral clearance and late peaks associated with long-term infection.
- Viral foci are found in cortical-like areas rich in neurons and astrocytes but void of microglia.
- Pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and biomarkers are increasingly released during infection.
- Human cerebral organoids are suitable for studying both acute and long-term WNV encephalitis.