"The idea is to better understand how the virus replicates, how it interacts with the immune system, how it interacts with cells in order to be able to fight it", explains Nolwenn Jouvenet, head of the Antiviral Signaling unit. at the Institut Pasteur in Pairs.
Sophie-Marie Aicher, doctoral student in the same unit, and Delphine Planas, postdoctoral fellow, were able to film bat brain cells contaminated with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus virus.
A video noticed and distinguished with an honorable mention in the “Small World” competition organized by Nikon. In this 23-second video, made up of photographs taken every 15 minutes for 48 hours, we can see how SARS-CoV-2 attacks bat cells, before killing them. “Normally, bat cells should grow and become more and more numerous,” explains Sophie-Marie Aicher. But they have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and react quite differently. "Bat cells merge with each other before exploding" explains the German doctoral student. The bright red spots that appear then testify to the death of these cells under the effect of the virus.
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This video, which is part of a study conducted by the Institut Pasteur on reservoir species.
"It is part of a larger work that tries to understand the immune response induced following viral infections in cells," says Nolwenn Jouvenet.
We have recently been interested in animal species that carry viruses but do not get sick, ”adds the researcher about bats.
“The hypothesis is that these animals have a very efficient immune system to be able to control viral infections.
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