scRNAseq analysis of DENV-2 infected B cells
Dengue virus (DENV) is the causative agent of dengue, a mosquito-borne disease that represents a significant and growing public health burden around the world. A unique pathophysiological feature of dengue is immune-mediated enhancement, wherein preexisting immunity elicited by a primary infection can enhance the severity of a subsequent infection by a heterologous DENV serotype. A leading mechanistic explanation for this phenomenon is antibody dependent enhancement (ADE), where sub-neutralizing concentrations of DENV-specific IgG antibodies facilitate entry of DENV into Fc?R expressing cells such as monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Accordingly, this model posits that phagocytic mononuclear cells are the primary reservoir of DENV. However, analysis of samples from individuals experiencing acute DENV infection reveals that B cells are the largest reservoir of infected circulating cells, representing a disconnect in our understanding of immune-mediated DENV tropism. In this study, we demonstrate that the expression of a DENV-specific B cell receptor (BCR) renders cells highly susceptible to DENV infection, with the infection-enhancing activity of the membrane-restricted BCR correlating with the ADE potential of the IgG version of the antibody. In addition, we observed that the frequency of DENV-infectable B cells increases in previously flavivirus-naïve volunteers after a primary DENV infection. These findings suggest that BCR-dependent infection of B cells is a novel mechanism immune-mediated enhancement of DENV-infection. Overall design: The DENV-specific B cell line 7B9 was infected with DENV-2 for 24 hrs, washed, then incubated for and additional 24 hours prior to harvest and analysis by scRNAseq. A parallel uninfected/control culture was cultured and analyzed in a parallel fashion.