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Laghi V, Rezelj V, Boucontet L, Frétaud M, Da Costa B, Boudinot P, Salinas I, Lutfalla G, Vignuzzi M, Levraud JP. Exploring Zebrafish Larvae as a COVID-19 Model: Probable Abortive SARS-CoV-2 Replication in the Swim Bladder. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:790851. [PMID: 35360100 PMCID: PMC8963489 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.790851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal models are essential to understanding COVID-19 pathophysiology and for preclinical assessment of drugs and other therapeutic or prophylactic interventions. We explored the small, cheap, and transparent zebrafish larva as a potential host for SARS-CoV-2. Bath exposure, as well as microinjection in the coelom, pericardium, brain ventricle, or bloodstream, resulted in a rapid decrease of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wild-type larvae. However, when the virus was inoculated in the swim bladder, viral RNA stabilized after 24 h. By immunohistochemistry, epithelial cells containing SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein were observed in the swim bladder wall. Our data suggest an abortive infection of the swim bladder. In some animals, several variants of concern were also tested with no evidence of increased infectivity in our model. Low infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in zebrafish larvae was not due to the host type I interferon response, as comparable viral loads were detected in type I interferon-deficient animals. A mosaic overexpression of human ACE2 was not sufficient to increase SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in zebrafish embryos or in fish cells in vitro. In conclusion, wild-type zebrafish larvae appear mostly non-permissive to SARS-CoV-2, except in the swim bladder, an aerial organ sharing similarities with the mammalian lung.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerio Laghi
- Institut Pasteur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de Recherche (UMR) 3637, Unité Macrophages et Développement de l’Immunité, Paris, France
| | - Veronica Rezelj
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Populations Virales et Pathogénèse, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Laurent Boucontet
- Institut Pasteur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de Recherche (UMR) 3637, Unité Macrophages et Développement de l’Immunité, Paris, France
| | - Maxence Frétaud
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National pour la Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Université Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaire (VIM), Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Bruno Da Costa
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National pour la Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Université Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaire (VIM), Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Pierre Boudinot
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National pour la Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Université Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaire (VIM), Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Irene Salinas
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Georges Lutfalla
- Laboratory of Pathogen-Host Interactions (LPHI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Marco Vignuzzi
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Populations Virales et Pathogénèse, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Pierre Levraud
- Institut Pasteur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de Recherche (UMR) 3637, Unité Macrophages et Développement de l’Immunité, Paris, France
- Université Paris-Saclay, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Pasteur, Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- *Correspondence: Jean-Pierre Levraud,
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Laghi V, Rezelj V, Boucontet L, Frétaud M, Da Costa B, Boudinot P, Salinas I, Lutfalla G, Vignuzzi M, Levraud JP. Exploring Zebrafish Larvae as a COVID-19 Model: Probable Abortive SARS-CoV-2 Replication in the Swim Bladder. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022. [PMID: 35360100 DOI: 10.1101/2021.04.08.439059v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal models are essential to understanding COVID-19 pathophysiology and for preclinical assessment of drugs and other therapeutic or prophylactic interventions. We explored the small, cheap, and transparent zebrafish larva as a potential host for SARS-CoV-2. Bath exposure, as well as microinjection in the coelom, pericardium, brain ventricle, or bloodstream, resulted in a rapid decrease of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wild-type larvae. However, when the virus was inoculated in the swim bladder, viral RNA stabilized after 24 h. By immunohistochemistry, epithelial cells containing SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein were observed in the swim bladder wall. Our data suggest an abortive infection of the swim bladder. In some animals, several variants of concern were also tested with no evidence of increased infectivity in our model. Low infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in zebrafish larvae was not due to the host type I interferon response, as comparable viral loads were detected in type I interferon-deficient animals. A mosaic overexpression of human ACE2 was not sufficient to increase SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in zebrafish embryos or in fish cells in vitro. In conclusion, wild-type zebrafish larvae appear mostly non-permissive to SARS-CoV-2, except in the swim bladder, an aerial organ sharing similarities with the mammalian lung.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerio Laghi
- Institut Pasteur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de Recherche (UMR) 3637, Unité Macrophages et Développement de l'Immunité, Paris, France
| | - Veronica Rezelj
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Populations Virales et Pathogénèse, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Laurent Boucontet
- Institut Pasteur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de Recherche (UMR) 3637, Unité Macrophages et Développement de l'Immunité, Paris, France
| | - Maxence Frétaud
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National pour la Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaire (VIM), Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Bruno Da Costa
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National pour la Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaire (VIM), Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Pierre Boudinot
- Université Paris-Saclay, Institut National pour la Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), Université Versailles Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), Virologie et Immunologie Moléculaire (VIM), Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Irene Salinas
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Georges Lutfalla
- Laboratory of Pathogen-Host Interactions (LPHI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Marco Vignuzzi
- Institut Pasteur, Unité Populations Virales et Pathogénèse, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Pierre Levraud
- Institut Pasteur, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de Recherche (UMR) 3637, Unité Macrophages et Développement de l'Immunité, Paris, France
- Université Paris-Saclay, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Pasteur, Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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