Non Susceptibility of Neonatal and Adult Rats against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol. 69; no. 6; pp. 510 - 516
• Main Authors: Iwata-Yoshikawa, Naoko, Fukushi, Shuetsu, Fukuma, Aiko, Suzuki, Tadaki, Takeda, Makoto, Tashiro, Masato, Hasegawa, Hideki, Nagata, Noriyo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases Editorial Committee 2016
• Subjects: Administration, Intranasal; animal model; Animals; Cell Line; Coronaviridae; Disease Resistance; Female; Host Specificity; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lung - virology; MERS-CoV; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - growth & development; Pregnancy; rat; Rats, Inbred F344; Rats, Inbred Lew; susceptibility; Viral Tropism
• ISSN: 1344-6304; 1884-2836; 1884-2836
• DOI: 10.7883/yoken.JJID.2015.589

The present study examined the susceptibility of rats to the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and determined whether this animal is a suitable model for MERS-CoV infection. Immunohistochemical analysis identified dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), a known receptor for MERS-CoV on type I pneumocytes from infected rats. Whereas adult rats developed antibodies against MERS-CoV spike protein after intranasal inoculation, there was no evidence of viral replication in the lungs of adult, young, or neonatal rats after intranasal inoculation with MERS-CoV. In addition, human DPP4-expressing rat kidney fibroblasts, but not rat DPP4-expressing cells, were susceptible to MERS-CoV. Taken together, these results suggest that the rat is not a useful animal model for studying MERS-CoV infection.