Oral Norovirus Infection Is Blocked in Mice Lacking Peyer's Patches and Mature M Cells

Abstract

A critical early step in murine norovirus (MNV) pathogenesis is crossing the intestinal epithelial barrier to reach the target cells for replication, i.e., macrophages, dendritic cells, and B cells. Our previous work showed that MNV replication decreases in the intestines of mice conditionally depleted of microfold (M) cells. To define the importance of Peyer's patch (PP) M cells during MNV pathogenesis, we used a model of BALB/c mice deficient in recombination-activating gene 2 (Rag2) and the common gamma chain (γc) (Rag-γc −/− ), which lack gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT), such as Peyer's patches, and mature GP2 + M cells. Rag-γc −/− mice were infected intraperitoneally or perorally with MNV-1 or CR3 for 24 or 72 h. Although the intestinal laminae propriae of Rag-γc −/− mice have a higher frequency of certain MNV target cells (dendritic cells and macrophages) than those of wild-type mice and lack others (B cells), Rag-γc −/− and wild-type BALB/c mice showed relatively similar viral loads in the intestine following infection by the intraperitoneal route, which provides direct access to target cells. However, Rag-γc −/− mice were not productively infected with MNV by the oral route, in which virions must cross the intestinal epithelial barrier. These data are consistent with a model whereby PP M cells are the primary route by which MNV crosses the intestinal epithelia of BALB/c mice. IMPORTANCE Noroviruses (NoVs) are prevalent pathogens that infect their hosts via the intestine. Identifying key factors during the initial stages of virus infection in the host may provide novel points of intervention. Microfold (M) cells, antigen-sampling cells in the intestine, were previously shown to provide a gateway for murine NoV (MNV) into the host, but the relative importance of this uptake pathway remained unknown. Here we show that the absence of gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT), such as Peyer's patches, which contain high numbers of mature M cells, renders BALB/c mice refractory to oral infection with MNV. These findings are consistent with the model that M cells represent the primary route by which MNV crosses the intestinal epithelial barrier and infects underlying immune cells during a productive infection.