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Kollath DR, Grill FJ, Itogawa AN, Fabio-Braga A, Morales MM, Shepardson KM, Bryant ML, Yi J, Ramsey ML, Luberto ET, Celona KR, Keim PS, Settles EW, Lake D, Barker BM. Developing a Coccidioides posadasii and SARS-CoV-2 Co-infection Model in the K18-hACE2 Transgenic Mouse. COMMUNICATIONS MEDICINE 2024; 4:186. [PMID: 39349727 PMCID: PMC11442577 DOI: 10.1038/s43856-024-00610-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2024] [Indexed: 10/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early reports showed that patients with COVID-19 had recrudescence of previously resolved coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever, VF), and there were indications that coinfection had more severe outcomes. We therefore investigated serial infection of Coccidioides posadasii and SARS-CoV-2 in a K18-hACE2 mouse model to assess disease outcomes. METHODS In our model, we challenged K18-hACE2 mice sequentially with a sub-lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2 and 24 hours later with low virulence strain of Coccidioides posadasii, and vice versa, compared to mice that only received a single infection challenge. We performed survival and pathogenesis mouse studies as well as looked at the systemic immune response differences between treatment groups. RESULTS Here we show that co-infected groups have a more severe disease progression as well as a decrease in survival. Importantly, results differ depending on the SARS-CoV-2 variant (WA-1, Delta, or Omicron) and infection timing (SARS-CoV-2 first, C. posadasii second or vice versa). We find that groups that are infected with the virus first had a decrease in survival, increased morbidity and weight loss, increased fungal and viral burdens, differences in immune responses, and the amount and size of fungal spherules. We also find that groups coinfected with C. posadasii first have a decrease fungal burden and inflammatory responses. CONCLUSIONS This is the first in vivo model investigation of a coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and Coccidioides. Because of the potential for increased severity of disease in a coinfection, we suggest populations that live in areas of high coccidioidomycosis endemicity may experience higher incidence of complicated disease progression with COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel R Kollath
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | | | - Ashley N Itogawa
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Ana Fabio-Braga
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Matthew M Morales
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Kelly M Shepardson
- University of California, Merced, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Mitchell L Bryant
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Jinhee Yi
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Marieke L Ramsey
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Emily T Luberto
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Kimberly R Celona
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Paul S Keim
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Erik W Settles
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Douglas Lake
- School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Bridget M Barker
- The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
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Type I Interferon α/β Receptor-Mediated Signaling Negatively Regulates Antiviral Cytokine Responses in Murine Bone-Marrow-Derived Mast Cells and Protects the Cells from Virus-Induced Cell Death. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21239041. [PMID: 33261178 PMCID: PMC7729593 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21239041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Mast cells (MCs) are critical for initiating inflammatory responses to pathogens including viruses. Type I interferons (IFNs) that exert their antiviral functions by interacting with the type I IFN receptor (IFNAR) play a central role in host cellular responses to viruses. Given that virus-induced excessive toxic inflammatory responses are associated with aberrant IFNAR signaling and considering MCs are an early source of inflammatory cytokines during viral infections, we sought to determine whether IFNAR signaling plays a role in antiviral cytokine responses of MCs. IFNAR-intact, IFNAR-blocked, and IFNAR-knockout (IFNAR−/−) bone-marrow-derived MCs (BMMCs) were treated in vitro with a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSVΔm51) to assess cytokine production by these cells. All groups of MCs produced the cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in response to rVSVΔm51. However, production of the cytokines was lowest in IFNAR-intact cells as compared with IFNAR−/− or IFNAR-blocked cells at 20 h post-stimulation. Surprisingly, rVSVΔm51 was capable of infecting BMMCs, but functional IFNAR signaling was able to protect these cells from virus-induced death. This study showed that BMMCs produced pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to rVSVΔm51 and that IFNAR signaling was required to down-modulate these responses and protect the cells from dying from viral infection.
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