Influenza A Virus Infection Damages Zebrafish Skeletal Muscle and Exacerbates Disease in Zebrafish Modeling Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

DISCUSSION Here, we investigated the effects of an infectious disease on skeletal muscle tissue alone and in combination with a genetic muscle disease. We found that human IAV can infect zebrafish muscle fibers and cause fiber damage via loss of sarcolemma integrity and/or loss of ECM adhesion external to the sarcolemma. Additionally, we showed that molecular and cellular markers of inflammation are present in muscle tissue in response to IAV infection. Finally, we showed that an infectious disease in combination with a genetic muscle disease greatly worsens the severity of muscle tissue degeneration. Taken together, our results show that gene-environment interactions are important regulators of muscle tissue structure, function, and health. We used a model in which transparent embryos/larvae can be infected with a virus that when translated by host cells generates a fluorescent product. This allows for the visualization and tracking of infected cells in vivo and in real time. This model could be utilized to extend our findings in ways such as testing the effect of aqueous chemicals on the tropism of IAV for skeletal muscle fibers as well as determining the subcellular localization of GFP puncta in NS1-GFP-infected muscle cells based upon co-localization with fluorescent markers for subcellular organelles. Data from experiments such as these could be used to inform and develop better therapeutic options for preventing and treating skeletal muscle infection by IAV. Inflammat...
Source: PLOS Currents Muscular Dystrophy - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research