Modeling Dengue Virus-Hepatic Cell Interactions Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocyte-like Cells

The development of dengue antivirals and vaccine has been hampered by the incomplete understanding of molecular mechanisms of dengue virus (DENV) infection and pathology, partly due to the limited suitable cell culture or animal models that can capture the comprehensive cellular changes induced by DENV. In this study, we differentiated human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into hepatocytes, one of the target cells of DENV, to investigate various aspects of DENV-hepatocyte interaction. hPSC-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) supported persistent and productive DENV infection. The activation of interferon pathways by DENV protected bystander cells from infection and protected the infected cells from massive apoptosis. Furthermore, DENV infection activated the NF-κB pathway, which led to production of proinflammatory cytokines and downregulated many liver-specific genes such as albumin and coagulation factor V. Our study demonstrates the utility of hPSC-derived hepatocytes as an in vitro model for DENV infection and reveals important aspects of DENV-host interactions.