Bunyaviruses: from transmission by arthropods to virus entry into the mammalian host first-target cells

Abstract

The Bunyaviridae constitute a large family of animal RNA viruses distributed worldwide, most members of which are transmitted to vertebrate hosts by arthropods and can cause severe pathologies in humans and livestock. With an increasing number of outbreaks, arthropod-borne bunyaviruses (arbo-bunyaviruses) present a global threat to public health and agricultural productivity. Yet transmission, tropism, receptors and cell entry remain poorly characterized. The focus of this review is on the initial infection of mammalian hosts by arbo-bunyaviruses from cellular and molecular perspectives, with particular attention to the human host. We address current knowledge and advances regarding the identity of the first-target cells and the subsequent processes of entry and penetration into the cytosol. Aspects of the vector-to-host switch that influence the early steps of cell infection in mammalian skin, where incoming particles are introduced by infected arthropods, are also highlighted and discussed.