Extreme susceptibility of African naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber) to experimental infection with herpes simplex virus type 1.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) is widely used as a gene delivery vector in a variety of laboratory animals. In a recent study, a thymidine-kinase-inactive (replication-conditional) HSV1 used as a delivery vector was lethal in naked mole rats, whereas mice infected with the identical virus showed no adverse effects. This result prompted us to undertake a controlled comparative histologic study of the effect of HSV1 infection on naked mole rats and mice. Replication-competent and replication-conditional HSV1 caused widespread inflammation and necrosis in multiple organ systems of naked mole rats but not mice; naked mole rats infected with replication-defective virus showed no adverse effects. We conclude that the lethality of HSV1 for naked mole rats is likely the result of overwhelming infection, possibly in part due to this species' natural lack of proinflammatory neuropeptides at the initial site of infection.
Artwohl
James
J
Biological Resources Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Jeart@uic.edu
Ball-Kell
Susan
S
Valyi-Nagy
Tibor
T
Wilson
Steven P
SP
Lu
Ying
Y
Park
Thomas J
TJ
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D019577:Mole Rats; D009336:Necrosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D014779:Virus Replication
D000956:Antigens, Viral