Human Astrovirus MLB Replication In Vitro : Persistence in Extraintestinal Cell Lines

Abstract

MLB astroviruses are emerging viruses infecting humans. More studies are required to determine their exact epidemiology, but several reports have already identified them as the cause of unexpected clinical diseases, including severe neurologic diseases. Our study provides the first description of a cell culture system for the propagation of MLB astroviruses, enabling the study of their replicative cycle. Moreover, we demonstrated the unknown capacity of MLB astrovirus to establish persistent infections in cell culture. Whether these persistent infections are also established in vivo remains unknown, but the clinical consequences would be of high interest if persistence was confirmed in vivo . Finally, our analysis of IFN expression provides some trails to understand the mechanism by which MLB astroviruses can cause persistent infections in the assayed cultures.