Department of Microbiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue 4200, Vietnam.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct 11;23(20):12117. doi: 10.3390/ijms232012117.
The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that affects the world's popula-tion with chikungunya disease. Adaptation of the viral life cycle to their host cells' environment is a key step for establishing their infection and pathogenesis. Recently, the accumulating evidence advocates a principal role of extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, in both the infection and pathogenesis of infectious diseases. However, the participation of exosomes in CHIKV infec-tion and transmission is not well clarified. Here, we demonstrated that the CHIKV RNA and pro-teins were captured in exosomes, which were released by viral-infected epithelial cells. A viral genomic element in the isolated exosomes was infectious to naïve mammalian epithelial cells. The assay of particle size distribution and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed CHIKV-derived exosomes with a size range from 50 to 250 nm. Treatments with RNase A, Triton X-100, and immunoglobulin G antibodies from CHIKV-positive patient plasma indicated that in-fectious viral elements are encompassed inside the exosomes. Interestingly, our viral plaque for-mation also exhibited that infectious viral elements might be securely transmitted to neighboring cells by a secreted exosomal pathway. Taken together, our recent findings emphasize the evidence for a complementary means of CHIKV infection and suggest the role of exosome-mediated CHIKV transmission.
基孔肯雅病毒（CHIKV）是一种蚊媒α病毒，会引起基孔肯雅病，影响世界人口。病毒生命周期适应其宿主细胞的环境是建立其感染和发病机制的关键步骤。最近，越来越多的证据表明，细胞外囊泡（EVs），包括外泌体，在传染病的感染和发病机制中起主要作用。然而，外泌体在 CHIKV 感染和传播中的参与尚未得到很好的阐明。在这里，我们证明了 CHIKV RNA 和蛋白质被病毒感染的上皮细胞释放的外泌体捕获。从分离的外泌体中获得的一个病毒基因组元件对原始哺乳动物上皮细胞具有感染性。颗粒大小分布和透射电子显微镜（TEM）的检测结果显示，CHIKV 衍生的外泌体大小范围为 50 至 250nm。用 RNase A、Triton X-100 和来自 CHIKV 阳性患者血浆的免疫球蛋白 G 抗体处理表明，感染性病毒元件包含在外泌体中。有趣的是，我们的病毒斑形成实验也表明，感染性病毒元件可能通过分泌的外泌体途径被安全地传递到邻近细胞。总之，我们最近的发现强调了 CHIKV 感染的补充方式的证据，并表明了外泌体介导的 CHIKV 传播的作用。
