The characteristics of enteroviruses 71 and coxsackievirus A16 infections in different cell lines

Abstract

Objective To investigate the differences of enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) infections in different cell lines. Methods Three virus strains with similar titers were used. Vero, RD, U251 and SY5Y cells were infected with these three selected virus strains, respectively. The pathogenicities of EV71 and CA16 strains in the four types of cells were compared according to characterizes of infected cells in aspects of cell viability, cytopathic effect (CPE), virus loading and mRNA expression of apoptins. Results Pathogenicities of the three strains within same cell line were similar. The three virus strains cannot be distinguished by their CPEs under microscopy. All of viral loads induced by the three viral infections in Vero cell were the highest one in the four cell lines, followed by RD, SY5Y and U251 cell.The cell viability rates had a trend of negative relationship with virus load, therefore, the order of cell viabilities after viral infections was in contrast to the viral loads. Infections by all of the three virus strains had caused mRNA expression of caspase-8, 9 and 3 in the three host cells. The apoptotic pathways in three host cells caused by the three strains had no difference. Conclusions Comparison of infections induced by EV71 and CA16 in vitro suggested that the differences in clinical outcomes of the two viral infections are not determined solely by the virus. Key words: EV71; CA16; Cell line; CPE