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. 2015 Dec 7;30(6):425–432. doi: 10.1007/s12250-015-3668-2

Cloning, expression, and antiviral activity of interferon β from the Chinese microbat, Myotis davidii

Ying-Zi Liang 1, Li-Jun Wu 1, Qian Zhang 1, Peng Zhou 2, Mei-Niang Wang 1, Xing-Lou Yang 1, Xing-Yi Ge 1, Lin-Fa Wang 2, Zheng-Li Shi 1,✉
PMCID: PMC7091266  PMID: 26645237

Abstract

Bats are natural reservoir hosts for many viruses that produce no clinical symptoms in bats. Therefore, bats may have evolved effective mechanisms to control viral replication. However, little information is available on bat immune responses to viral infection. Type I interferon (IFN) plays a key role in controlling viral infections. In this study, we report the cloning, expression, and biological activity of interferon β (IFNβ) from the Chinese microbat species, Myotis davidii. We demonstrated the upregulation of IFNB and IFN-stimulated genes in a kidney cell line derived from M. davidii after treatment with polyI:C or infection with Sendai virus. Furthermore, the recombinant IFNβ inhibited vesicular stomatitis virus and bat adenovirus replication in cell lines from two bat species, M. davidii and Rhinolophus sinicus. We provide the first in vitro evidence of IFNβ antiviral activity in microbats, which has important implications for virus interactions with these hosts. graphic file with name 12250_2015_3668_Figa_HTML.jpg

Keywords: bat, interferon, IFN-stimulated genes, antiviral activity

Footnotes

ORCID: 0000-0001-8089-163X

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