pH-Dependent entry of chikungunya virus fusion into mosquito cells

John T. Nuckols, Alexander J. McAuley, Yan Jang S. Huang, Kate M. Horne, Stephen Higgs, Robert A. Davey, Dana L. Vanlandingham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abstract Background: Millions of human infections caused by arthropod-borne pathogens are initiated by the feeding of an infected mosquito on a vertebrate. However, interactions between the viruses and the mosquito vector, which facilitates successful infection and transmission of virus to a subsequent vertebrate host, are still not fully understood. Finding: Here we describe early chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infectious events in cells derived from one of the most important CHIKV vectors, Aedes albopictus. We demonstrated that CHIKV infection of mosquito cells depended on acidification of the endosome as indicated by significant inhibition following prophylactic treatment with the lysosomotropic drugs chloroquine, ammonium chloride, and monensin, which is consistent with observations in mammalian cells. While all three agents inhibited CHIKV infection in C6/36 cells, ammonium chloride was less toxic to cells than the other agents. Conclusion: The observation of similar mechanisms for inhibition of CHIKV infection in mosquito and mammalian cell lines suggests that conserved entry pathways are utilized by CHIKV for vertebrate and invertebrate cell types.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number215
JournalVirology journal
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Chikungunya virus
  • Lysosomotropic compounds
  • Virus entry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Virology
  • Infectious Diseases

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