Chen Tse-Yu, Raduwan Hamidah, Marín-López Alejandro, Cui Yingjun, Fikrig Erol
Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
iScience. 2024 Jun 22;27(7):110353. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110353. eCollection 2024 Jul 19.
The midgut is crucial for blood digestion, nutrition, reproduction, and pathogen interaction. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we explored virus infection and transcriptomic changes at the cellular level. We identified 12 distinct cell clusters in the midgut post-Zika virus infection, including intestinal stem cells, enteroblasts, enteroendocrine cells (EE), and enterocytes (ECs). The virus was found mainly in specific subsets of ECs and EE. Infection altered transcriptional profiles related to metabolism, signaling, and immune responses. Functional studies highlighted three significantly differentially expressed genes in infected cells. Notably, silencing apolipophorin III reduced virus RNA copy number in the midgut, emphasizing the role of specific genes in viral infection. These findings enhance our understanding of mosquito midgut cell processes during Zika virus infection and suggest potential targets for vector control.
中肠对于血液消化、营养摄取、繁殖以及与病原体的相互作用至关重要。利用单细胞RNA测序技术，我们在细胞水平上探究了病毒感染及转录组变化。我们在寨卡病毒感染后的中肠中鉴定出12个不同的细胞簇，包括肠道干细胞、成肠细胞、肠内分泌细胞（EE）和肠上皮细胞（EC）。该病毒主要存在于EC和EE的特定亚群中。感染改变了与代谢、信号传导和免疫反应相关的转录谱。功能研究突出了感染细胞中三个显著差异表达的基因。值得注意的是，沉默载脂蛋白III可降低中肠中的病毒RNA拷贝数，这凸显了特定基因在病毒感染中的作用。这些发现增进了我们对寨卡病毒感染期间蚊子中肠细胞过程的理解，并为病媒控制提供了潜在靶点。
