Academic Journal
Transcriptional profiling of the Crocodylus porosus liver cell response to Kunjin virus reveal novel insights into the host-virus interface.
| Τίτλος: | Transcriptional profiling of the Crocodylus porosus liver cell response to Kunjin virus reveal novel insights into the host-virus interface. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Sikder S; Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4878, Australia., Kumar M; Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4878, Australia., Field M; Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4878, Australia., Mee P; Agriculture Victoria Research, AgriBio Centre for AgriBioscience, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia., Loukas A; Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4878, Australia., Helbig KJ; Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia., Sarker S; Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology & Pharmacology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, 3083, Australia; Biomedical Sciences & Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4814, Australia. Electronic address: subir.sarker@jcu.edu.au. |
| Πηγή: | Microbial pathogenesis [Microb Pathog] 2026 Sep; Vol. 218, pp. 108668. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 29. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Academic Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8606191 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1096-1208 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 08824010 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Microb Pathog Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: London ; Orlando : Academic Press, c1986- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Alligators and Crocodiles*/virology , Alligators and Crocodiles*/immunology , Alligators and Crocodiles*/genetics , Liver*/virology , Liver*/immunology , Liver*/cytology , West Nile virus*/immunology , West Nile virus*/physiology , Host-Pathogen Interactions*/immunology , Host-Pathogen Interactions*/genetics , Gene Expression Profiling*, Chemokine CXCL10/genetics ; Chemokine CXCL10/metabolism ; Animals ; Immunity, Innate ; Virus Replication ; Cell Line |
| Περίληψη: | Crocodilians possess a unique and robust immune system, offering a valuable model for studying vertebrate antiviral responses and informing zoonotic disease surveillance and therapeutic discovery. Building on our previous work that characterized crocodilian immune responses to synthetic viral mimics, this study investigates the innate immune dynamics of Crocodylus porosus liver (LV-1) cells infected with the Kunjin2011 virus, a genetically and antigenically related member of the West Nile virus (WNV) complex. A time-course infection assay was conducted up to 192 h post-infection (hpi), combining viral infectivity analysis with transcriptomic profiling. Delayed Kunjin2011 viral replication was confirmed via qRT-PCR, revealing a clear exponential phase after 48 hpi and peaking at 192 hpi. RNA sequencing demonstrated progressive transcriptional reprogramming in LV-1 cells, with early gene expression changes modest but becoming pronounced by 192 hpi. Differential expression analysis identified 1428 upregulated and 1308 downregulated genes, with temporal shifts from early activation to late-stage suppression. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering further supported a time-dependent divergence in host transcriptional responses. Notably, CXCL10, a key immune-associated chemokine, exhibited a biphasic expression pattern, with an early peak at 8 hpi, suppression at intermediate time points, and renewed induction from 72 hpi onwards. Together, these results demonstrate that Kunjin2011 infection elicits a dynamic and time-dependent transcriptional response in C. porosus liver cells, characterized by early activation of innate immune pathways followed by extensive transcriptional remodeling during prolonged infection. This study provides new insights into crocodilian host responses to flavivirus infection and establishes a foundation for future investigations of antiviral immunity and host-virus interactions in reptiles. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: CXCL10; Infection kinetics; Kunjin2011 virus; LV-1 cell; RNAseq |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (Chemokine CXCL10) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260629 Date Completed: 20260718 Latest Revision: 20260718 |
| Update Code: | 20260719 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.micpath.2026.108668 |
| PMID: | 42372994 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1096-1208 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.micpath.2026.108668 |