In vitro characterization of human adenovirus type 55 in comparison with its parental adenoviruses, types 11 and 14

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 6; p. e100665
• Main Authors: Liu, Juan, Nian, Qing-Gong, Zhang, Yu, Xu, Li-Juan, Hu, Yi, Li, Jing, Deng, Yong-Qiang, Zhu, Shun-Ya, Wu, Xiao-Yan, Qin, E-De, Jiang, Tao, Qin, Cheng-Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.06.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adenoviruses; Adenoviruses, Human - growth & development; Adenoviruses, Human - pathogenicity; Adenoviruses, Human - physiology; Analysis; Apoptosis; Biology and Life Sciences; Cell Line, Tumor; Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; Cytotoxicity; Disease transmission; Epidemiology; Fitness; Genomes; Health aspects; Homologous recombination; Homology; Hot Temperature; Humans; Illnesses; Infections; Influenza; Kinetics; Laboratories; Occupational exposure; Outbreaks; Parenting; Parents; Pathogenesis; Pathogens; Penicillin; Respiratory diseases; Sensitivity analysis; Thermal stability; Toxicity; Viral proteins; Virology; Viruses
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100665

Human adenovirus type 55 (HAdV-B55) represents a re-emerging human pathogen, and this adenovirus has been reported to cause outbreaks of acute respiratory diseases among military trainees and in school populations around the world. HAdV-B55 has been revealed to have evolved from homologous recombination between human adenovirus type 14 (HAdV-B14) and type 11 (HAdV-B11), but it presents different clinical manifestations from parental virus HAdV-B11. In the present paper, we report the distinct biological features of HAdV-B55 in comparison with the parental viruses HAdV-B11 and HAdV-B14 in cell cultures. The results showed that HAdV-B55 replicated well in various cells, similar to HAdV-B11 and HAdV-B14, but that its processing had a slower and milder cytopathic effect in the early stages of infection. Viral fitness analysis showed that HAdV-B55 exhibited higher levels of replication in respiratory cells than did either of its parents. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis analyses in A549 cells indicated that HAdV-B55 was less cytotoxic than HAdV-B11 and HAdV-B14 were and induced milder apoptosis. Finally, thermal sensitivity analysis revealed that HAdV-B55 exhibited lower thermostability than did either HAdV-B11 or HAdV-B14, which may limit the transmission of HAdV-B55 in humans. Together, the findings described here expand current knowledge about this re-emerging recombinant HAdV, shedding light on the pathogenesis of HAdV-B55.