What is it about?
Classically, all hepatitis E virus (HEV) variants causing human infection belong to HEV-A. However, the increasing cases of rat HEV infection in humans challenged this dogma. We found that cell binding tropism is a pivotal determinant of HEV species regarding their zoonotic transmission to humans. Rat HEV virus-like particles (VLPs) and infectious rat HEV bind and enter human target cells, whereas ferret, bat and avian HEV VLPs show marginal or no cell binding and entry potency.
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Why is it important?
Our study revealed mechanistic insights regarding the distinct zoonotic potential of different HEV species and elucidated their cross-species antigenic relationships.
Perspectives
The systematic characterization of antigenic cartography and serological cross-reactivity of different HEV species provide valuable insights for the development of species-specific diagnosis and protective vaccines against zoonotic HEV infection.
Wenshi Wang
Xuzhou Medical University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cell binding tropism of rat hepatitis E virus is a pivotal determinant of its zoonotic transmission to humans, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, October 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2416255121.
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