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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Ruminant Diseases and Immunology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407272
Research Project: Genomic and Mitigation Strategies to Control Mastitis

Location: Ruminant Diseases and Immunology Research

Title: How do deer respiratory epithelial cells weather the initial storm of SARS-CoV-2?

Author
item Sarlo Davila, Kaitlyn
item NELLI, RAHUL - Iowa State University
item PHADKE, KRUTTIKA - Iowa State University
item RUDEN, RACHEL - Iowa State University
item SANG, YONGMING - Tennessee State University
item BELLAIRE, BRYAN - Iowa State University
item GIMENEZ-LIROLA, LUIS - Iowa State University
item MILLER, LAURA - Kansas State University

Submitted to: mSphere
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/28/2023
Publication Date: 1/8/2024
Citation: Sarlo Davila, K.M., Nelli, R.K., Phadke, K.S., Ruden, R.M., Sang, Y., Bellaire, B.H., Gimenez-Lirola, L.G., Miller, L.C. 2024. How do deer respiratory epithelial cells weather the initial storm of SARS-CoV-2?. mSphere. Article e0252423. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02524-23.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02524-23

Interpretive Summary: While humans and white-tailed deer are both susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, deer tend to be asymptomatic, subclinical carriers while humans may experience severe symptoms. This study compared gene expression in human and deer lung surface cells for 48 hours following SARS-CoV-2. Deer cells had less expression of inflammatory cytokine and chemokine genes which may explain deer do do not show clinical signs of SARS-CoV-2.

Technical Abstract: The potential infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in animals raises a public health and economic concern, particularly in the high susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD) to SARS-CoV-2. The disparity in the disease outcome between humans and WTD is very intriguing, as the latter are often asymptomatic, subclinical carriers of SARS-CoV-2. To date, no studies have evaluated the innate immune factors responsible for the contrasting SARS-CoV-2 associated disease outcomes in these mammalian species. A comparative transcriptomic analysis in primary respiratory epithelial cells of human (HRECs) and WTD (Deer-RECs) infected with SARS-CoV-2 was assessed throughout 48 hours post inoculation (hpi). Both HRECs and Deer-RECs were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, with significantly lower virus replication (P<0.001) in Deer-RECs. The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) gradually increased in Deer-RECs but decreased in HRECs throughout the infection. The ingenuity pathway analysis of DEGs further identified that genes commonly altered during SARS-CoV-2 mianly belong to cytokine and chemokine response pathways mediated via IL-17 and NF-kB signaling pathways. Inhibition of the NF-kB signaling in the Deer-RECs was predicted as earlier as 6 hpi. The findings from this study could explain the lack of clinical signs reported in WTD in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection as opposed to the severe clinical outcomes reported in humans.