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Human cytomegalovirus induces significant structural and functional changes in terminally differentiated human cortical neurons.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a highly prevalent viral pathogen that can cause serious neurological deficits in infants experiencing an in utero infection. Also, as a life-long infection, HCMV has been associated with several diseases in the adult brain. HCMV is known to infect early neural progenitor cells, but whether it also infects terminally differentiated neurons is still debated. Here, we differentiated human-induced pluripotent stem cells into neurons for 84-120 days to test the ability of HCMV to infect terminally differentiated neurons and assess the downstream functional consequences. We discovered that mature human neurons are highly permissive to HCMV infection, exhibited late replication hallmarks, and produced infectious virus. Moreover, infection in terminally differentiated neurons essentially eliminated neuron function. These results demonstrate that terminally differentiated human neurons are permissive to HCMV infection, which can significantly alter both structural and functional features of this mature neuron population.

SUBMITTER: Adelman JW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10746155 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Human cytomegalovirus induces significant structural and functional changes in terminally differentiated human cortical neurons.

Adelman Jacob W JW Rosas-Rogers Suzette S Schumacher Megan L ML Mokry Rebekah L RL Terhune Scott S SS Ebert Allison D AD

mBio 20231115 6

<h4>Importance</h4>Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a highly prevalent viral pathogen that can cause serious neurological deficits in infants experiencing an <i>in utero</i> infection. Also, as a life-long infection, HCMV has been associated with several diseases in the adult brain. HCMV is known to infect early neural progenitor cells, but whether it also infects terminally differentiated neurons is still debated. Here, we differentiated human-induced pluripotent stem cells into neurons for 84-1 ...[more]

PMID: 37966250

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Dataset Information

Human cytomegalovirus induces significant structural and functional changes in terminally differentiated human cortical neurons.

Importance

Publications

Human cytomegalovirus induces significant structural and functional changes in terminally differentiated human cortical neurons.

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