Secreted glycosylated ORF8 specifically induces the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines
(A) Conditioned media containing major secreted NSP proteins did not induce pro-inflammatory cytokines in PBMCs of healthy donors.
(B) Conditioned media containing secreted ORF8 specifically induced pro-inflammatory cytokines (highlighted in yellow) IL1β, IL6, IL8, and CCL2 in PBMCs from unselected healthy donors. ∗p≤0.05.
(C) Purified highly glycosylated ORF8 (ORF8-glycolhi) from HEK293 but not unglycosylated ORF8 (ORF8-glycolnull) from E. coli stimulates PBMCs to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines IL1β, IL6, IL8 but not T cell cytokine IL2.