Biomedical Research Center, Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017 Oct 31;7:458. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00458. eCollection 2017.
Herpesviruses are a large group of DNA viruses infecting mainly vertebrates. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) is often used as a model in studies of the pathogenesis of clinically important human gammaherpesviruses such as Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. This rodent virus appears to be geographically widespread; however, its natural transmission cycle is unknown. Following detection of MHV68 in field-collected ticks, including isolation of the virus from tick salivary glands and ovaries, we investigated whether MHV68 is a tick-borne virus. Uninfected ticks were shown to acquire the virus by feeding on experimentally infected laboratory mice. The virus survived tick molting, and the molted ticks transmitted the virus to uninfected laboratory mice on which they subsequently fed. MHV68 was isolated from the tick salivary glands, consistent with transmission via tick saliva. The virus survived in ticks without loss of infectivity for at least 120 days, and subsequently was transmitted vertically from one tick generation to the next, surviving more than 500 days. Furthermore, the F1 generation (derived from F0 infected females) transmitted MHV68 to uninfected mice on which they fed, with MHV68 M3 gene transcripts detected in blood, lung, and spleen tissue of mice on which F1 nymphs and F1 adults engorged. These experimental data fulfill the transmission criteria that define an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), the largest biological group of viruses. Currently, African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the only DNA virus recognized as an arbovirus. Like ASFV, MHV68 showed evidence of pathogenesis in ticks. Previous studies have reported MHV68 in free-living ticks and in mammals commonly infested with , and neutralizing antibodies to MHV68 have been detected in large mammals (e.g., deer) including humans. Further studies are needed to determine if these reports are the result of tick-borne transmission of MHV68 in nature, and whether humans are at risk of infection.
疱疹病毒是一大类感染脊椎动物的 DNA 病毒。鼠γ疱疹病毒 68（MHV68）常用于研究临床重要的人类γ疱疹病毒，如 EBV 和卡波西肉瘤相关疱疹病毒的发病机制。这种啮齿动物病毒似乎在地理上广泛分布；然而，其自然传播周期尚不清楚。在野外采集的蜱中检测到 MHV68 后，包括从蜱的唾液腺和卵巢中分离出该病毒，我们研究了 MHV68 是否是一种蜱传播的病毒。未感染的蜱通过吸食实验感染的实验鼠而获得该病毒。病毒在蜱的蜕皮过程中存活下来，蜕皮后的蜱将病毒传播给随后吸食它们的未感染的实验鼠。从蜱的唾液腺中分离出 MHV68，这与通过蜱唾液传播一致。病毒在没有失去感染力的情况下在蜱中存活至少 120 天，随后从一代蜱垂直传播到下一代，存活时间超过 500 天。此外，源自 F0 感染雌性的 F1 代将 MHV68 传播给吸食它们的未感染小鼠，在 F1 若虫和 F1 成虫吸血的小鼠的血液、肺和脾组织中检测到 MHV68 M3 基因转录本。这些实验数据满足了定义节肢动物传播病毒（arbovirus）的传播标准，节肢动物传播病毒是最大的病毒生物群。目前，非洲猪瘟病毒（ASFV）是唯一被确认为 arbovirus 的 DNA 病毒。与 ASFV 一样，MHV68 在蜱中表现出发病机制的证据。先前的研究报告了自由生活的蜱和经常受感染的哺乳动物中的 MHV68，并且在包括人类在内的大型哺乳动物（如鹿）中检测到针对 MHV68 的中和抗体。需要进一步研究以确定这些报告是否是 MHV68 在自然界中通过蜱传播的结果，以及人类是否有感染的风险。
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