Ultrastructural study of Mayaro virus replication in BHK-21 cells

Abstract

The replication of Mayaro virus in BHK-21 cells was studied by electron microscopy. The infected cells show an intense vacuolization and proliferation of membranous structures. At 5 h post-infection, precursor virus particles were seen in the cytoplasm of infected cells. Later, mature virus particles were found outside the cells and budding from the plasma membrane. Enveloped virus particles were also observed inside the vesicles and budding across their membrane. The release of virus particles into the extracellular space by exocytosis was also observed. In a later stage of the infection, inclusion bodies were sometimes present in the cytoplasm of infected cells. We conclude that in BHK-21 cells, budding from the plasma membrane is the main process of Mayaro virus maturation, and in this kind of cell replication differs significantly from that observed in Aedes albopictus cells.

Weak bases affect late stages of Mayaro virus replication cycle in vertebrate cells

“…Mayaro virus was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, MD, USA. Virus stock was prepared from BHK-21 cells and kept at À708C [15].…”

Inhibition of Mayaro Virus Replication by Prostaglandin A₁ in Vero Cells

“…Mayaro virus (Togaviridae family, Alphavirus genus) is an enveloped RNA virus which propagates in a natural cycle involving a wide range of vertebrate hosts and invertebrate vectors (Aedes and Culex mosquitoes) [1,2]. This virus has been isolated in Brazil, especially at the frontiers of colonization in the Amazon region, from humans and other mammalian species [3][4][5].…”

Mayaro Virus Pathogenesis and Transmission Mechanisms

“…The latter are expressed as a polyprotein that is cleaved both during and after translation into four non-structural proteins (nsP1, nsP2, nsP3, and nsP4), whereas the structural genes generate the six structural proteins (C, E1, E2, E3, 6K, and transframe) [71]. The viral particles are icosahedral, comprising a closed nucleocapsid in a compact envelope consisting of the host cell membrane sealed with E1-E2 complex [8,9,76]. The life cycle of MAYV starts with the fusion of the viral envelope with the plasma membrane of the target cells via specific receptors on their surface such as MXRA8, which has recently been revealed to be a receptor for several arthritogenic alphaviruses [7,77].…”

“…It belongs to the Togaviridae family and was first detected in 1954 in Trinidad in the sera of forest workers [4][5][6]. Like other alphaviruses, MAYV can infect, replicate and disseminate in both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts [7][8][9]. In humans, the virus causes Mayaro fever, which is characterized by long-lasting arthralgia similar to that occurring in Dengue fever.…”