Horseshoe bats are among the longest living bat species and are asymptomatic carriers of coronaviruses, including one of the viruses most closely related to SARS-CoV-2. Credit: Daniel Whitby
Key points:
- Researchers have generated induced pluripotent stem cells from a specific bat species for the first time.
- Previously, no reliable cellular models existed for studying bat biology or their responses to viral infections.
- The study may provide further clues as to bats’ incredible virus defense system.
Bats and COVID-19 have been synonymous since the beginning of the pandemic. But really, bats have been associated with coronaviruses for millions of years, with some studies suggested they have even evolved together.
Now, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have shed even more light on the close relationship between bats and viruses by generating the first induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from bats. This research opens the door to studying how viruses like SARS-CoV-2, survive, spread and evade the immune system through molecular adaptations to new hosts. It could also provide clues as to bats’ incredible virus defense system.
Previously, no reliable cellular models existed for studying bat biology or their responses to viral infections. The Mount Sinai team filled that void by creating induced pluripotent stem cells from the wild greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), which is the most common asymptomatic carrier of coronaviruses—including viruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2.
According to the study, published in Cell, the researchers discovered large virus-filled vesicles in bat stem cells representing major viral families, including coronaviruses, without compromising the cells’ ability to proliferate and grow.
“This could suggest a new paradigm for virus tolerance as well as a symbiotic relationship between bats and viruses,” said the researchers.
The Mt. Sinai team says their study can help answer such important questions as how bats tolerate viral infections and whether they genetically simulate tactics employed by viruses to evade the immune system, thus promoting fertile ground for virus production. An additional question the study helps to answer is whether viruses serve as fully competent agents and editors of host biology in a way that makes them rich sources of evolutionary instructions.
“Future research on bat stem cells will directly impact every aspect of our understanding of bat biology, including bats’ amazing adaptations of flight and ability to locate distant or invisible objects through echolocation, the location of objects reflected by sound, as well as their extreme longevity and unusual immunity,” said senior author Thomas Zwaka, MD, professor of cell, developmental and regenerative biology at Icahn Mount Sinai.
The greatest scientific gains, however, are expected to be in the bat virosphere.
“Our study establishes a platform to further understand the unique role bats play among mammals as virus reservoirs,” said co-author Adolfo García-Sastre, Director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute at Icahn Mount Sinai. “And that knowledge could provide the field with broad new insights into disease and therapeutics while preparing us for future pandemics.”
Information provided by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.