Rotavirus Infection and Cytopathogenesis in Human Biliary Organoids Potentially Recapitulate Biliary Atresia Development
Sunrui Chen, Pengfei Li, Yining Wang, Yuebang Yin, Petra E. de Ruiter, Monique M.A. Verstegen, Maikel P. Peppelenbosch, Luc J. W. van der Laan, Qiuwei Pan
Abstract
There is substantial evidence indicating the possible involvement of rotavirus in biliary atresia (BA) development, at least in a subset of patients, but concrete proof remains lacking. In a mouse model, it has been well demonstrated that rotavirus can infect the biliary epithelium to cause biliary inflammation and obstruction, representing the pathogenesis of BA in humans. By using recently developed organoids technology, we now have demonstrated that human biliary organoids are susceptible to rotavirus infection, and this provokes active virus-host interactions and causes severe cytopathogenesis. Thus, our model recapitulates some essential aspects of BA development. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that antiviral drugs and neutralizing antibodies are capable of counteracting the infection and BA-like morphological changes, suggesting their potential for mitigating BA in patients.