title: Non Susceptibility of Neonatal and Adult Rats against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus.
abstract: The present study examined the susceptibility of rats to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and determined whether this animal is a suitable model for MERS-CoV infection. Immunohistochemical analysis identified dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), a known receptor for MERS-CoV on type I pneumocytes from infected rats. Whereas adult rats developed antibodies against MERS-CoV spike protein after intranasal inoculation, there was no evidence of viral replication in the lungs of adult, young, or neonatal rats after intranasal inoculation with MERS-CoV. In addition, human DPP4-expressing rat kidney fibroblasts, but not rat DPP4-expressing cells, were susceptible to MERS-CoV. Taken together, these results suggest that the rat is not a useful animal model for studying MERS-CoV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwata-Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Shuetsu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukushi
authors.forename: Aiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fukuma
authors.forename: Tadaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Noriyo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nagata
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D060467:Disease Resistance; D005260:Female; D058507:Host Specificity; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000254:growth & development*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D056189:Viral Tropism