Enhanced detection and study of murine norovirus-1 using a more efficient microglial cell line.
BACKGROUND
Human Noroviruses are the predominant cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. To facilitate prevention and control, a norovirus isolated from mice can provide a model to understand human noroviruses. To establish optimal viral infectivity conditions for murine noroviruses, several cell lines of hematopoietic lineage, including murine BV-2, RAW 264.7, and TIB, as well as human CHME-5, were tested comparatively for their sensitivity to murine norovirus-1.


RESULTS
Except for CHME-5, all three murine-derived cell lines were susceptible to MNV infection. Viral infection of these cells was confirmed by RT-PCR. Using both viral plaque and replication assays, BV-2 and RAW 264.7 cells were determined to have comparable sensitivities to MNV-1 infection. Comparisons of cell growth characteristics, general laboratory handling and potential in-field applications suggest the use of BV-2 to be more advantageous.


CONCLUSIONS
Results obtained from these studies demonstrate that an immortalized microglial cell line can support MNV-1 replication and provides a more efficient method to detect and study murine noroviruses, facilitating future investigations using MNV-1 as a model to study, detect, and control Human Norovirus.
Cox
Courtney
C
Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. coxcourt@hawaii.edu
Cao
Shengbo
S
Lu
Yuanan
Y
D000818:Animals; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000662:veterinary*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D017628:Microglia / Q000821:virology*; D029322:Norovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*
D012367:RNA, Viral