Herpes simplex virus type 1 infection leads to neurodevelopmental disorder-associated neuropathological changes

PLoS Pathog. 2020 Oct 22;16(10):e1008899. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008899. eCollection 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Neonatal herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infections contribute to various neurodevelopmental disabilities and the subsequent long-term neurological sequelae into the adulthood. However, further understanding of fetal brain development and the potential neuropathological effects of the HSV-1 infection are hampered by the limitations of existing neurodevelopmental models due to the dramatic differences between humans and other mammalians. Here we generated in vitro neurodevelopmental disorder models including human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based monolayer neuronal differentiation, three-dimensional (3D) neuroepithelial bud, and 3D cerebral organoid to study fetal brain development and the potential neuropathological effects induced by the HSV-1 infections. Our results revealed that the HSV-1-infected neural stem cells (NSCs) exhibited impaired neural differentiation. HSV-1 infection led to dysregulated neurogenesis in the fetal neurodevelopment. The HSV-1-infected brain organoids modelled the pathological features of the neurodevelopmental disorders in the human fetal brain, including the impaired neuronal differentiation, and the dysregulated cortical layer and brain regionalization. Furthermore, the 3D cerebral organoid model showed that HSV-1 infection promoted the abnormal microglial activation, accompanied by the induction of inflammatory factors, such as TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-4. Overall, our in vitro neurodevelopmental disorder models reconstituted the neuropathological features associated with HSV-1 infection in human fetal brain development, providing the causal relationships that link HSV biology with the neurodevelopmental disorder pathogen hypothesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain / virology
  • Cell Differentiation / physiology
  • Herpes Simplex / virology*
  • Herpesvirus 1, Human / pathogenicity*
  • Humans
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / virology*
  • Neural Stem Cells / cytology
  • Neural Stem Cells / virology
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / etiology*
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / pathology
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders / virology*

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31871018, http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/), received by P.C. and the National Science and Technology Major Project (Grant No. 2018ZX10733403, http://www.most.gov.cn/), received by Y.W. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.