Human Norovirus-Induced Gene Expression Biomarkers in Zebrafish

• Published in: Journal of food protection Vol. 85; no. 6; pp. 924 - 929
• Main Authors: Kim, Songhak, Vaidya, Bipin, Cho, Se-Young, Kwon, Joseph, Kim, Duwoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Limited 01.06.2022
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; Biomarkers; Caliciviridae Infections; Cytokines; Danio rerio; Food safety; Gastroenteritis; Gene Expression; Genes; Genomes; Heat shock; Humans; IL-1β; Immune response; Infections; Inoculation; Interleukin 1; Mammals; Norovirus - genetics; Pathogenesis; Proteins; Replication; Statistical analysis; Therapeutic applications; Viral infections; Viruses; Zebrafish; Zebrafish - genetics; Zebrafish; Norovirus; Cytokine
• ISSN: 0362-028X; 1944-9097
• DOI: 10.4315/JFP-21-419

The challenges associated with development of an animal model system to replicate human norovirus (HuNoV) has hampered the study of the pathogenesis and therapeutic interventions for this virus. In this study, we replicated HuNoV GII.4 and evaluated virus gene expression in infected zebrafish. Three doses of inoculation resulted in successful virus replication. Genes for transmembrane transporters (tfa, cftr, slc26a3, and slc26a6), a heat shock chaperone (hspa8), and immune response cytokines (ifng1 and il1b) were highly expressed in HuNoV-infected zebrafish; however, expression levels of genes were reduced in zebrafish infected with thermally inactivated HuNoV. These results confirm HuNoV replication in juvenile zebrafish and will facilitate the investigation of biomarker gene expression during HuNoV infection.