Organoid research platform allows investigation of antiviral immunity in bats

Bats are known as natural hosts for highly pathogenic viruses such as MERS- and SARS-related coronaviruses, as well as the Marburg and Nipah viruses.

In contrast to the severe and often fatal disease outcomes these viruses cause in humans, bats generally do not show obvious signs of viral illness following infection.

An international research team led by Dr. Max Kellner and Prof. Josef Penninger, Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), has developed an innovative organoid research platform that allowed them to closely investigate the cellular antiviral defense mechanisms of mucosal epithelial tissues of bats. The results have now been published in Nature Immunology and could pave the way for the development of new therapies against viral diseases.

To investigate the innate immune defenses against viruses at the mucosal surfaces of bats, the research team developed organoids from the respiratory and intestinal tissue of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), the natural host of the highly pathogenic Marburg virus and other viruses known to be threats for humans.

"Our experiments on organoids showed that epithelial cells from Egyptian fruit bats, compared to those from humans, exhibit a significantly stronger baseline antiviral defense and an enhanced ability to induce innate immune responses to viral infections, particularly through the interferon system," explains Kellner.

Image source: HZI/Max Kellner.