Comparative growth of different rotavirus strains in differentiated cells (MA104, HepG2, and CaCo-2).

The production of viral antigen after infection of MA104, HepG2 (derived from human liver), and CaCo-2 (derived from human colon) cells with various cultivatable human and animal rotavirus strains was compared using immunofluorescence tests. All rotavirus strains examined expressed antigen in CaCo-2 cells and MA104 cells, but only some virus strains, namely, SA11-Cl3 (simian), RRV (simian), CU-1 (canine), and Ty1 (turkey), produced antigen in numbers of infected HepG2 cells comparable to infections in MA104 and CaCo-2 cells. Fl-14 (equine), OSU (porcine), NCDV (bovine), and Ch2 (chicken) strains were found to infect moderate numbers of HepG2 cells. Most human rotaviruses (representing viruses in serotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9), a simian rotavirus variant (SA11-4F), lapine (Ala, C-11 and R-2) viruses and porcine (Gottfried) virus infections resulted either in no detectable antigen or antigen synthesis in a low percentage of HepG2 cells. Human rotavirus isolates obtained from the stool specimens of an immunocompromised child with rotavirus antigen in his liver showed two different patterns of replication in HepG2 cells. Examination of the replication of a subset of viruses in the liver and intestinal tissues of orally infected suckling mice showed the CU-1 and Ty1 strains replicated well, while the OSU and human rotavirus strains did not. These results indicate that growth restriction in HepG2 cells is not serotype-specific, and growth of a virus in HepG2 cells does not necessarily correlate with the hepatotropic potential of a virus strain. Factors that may influence these differences of virus infectivity in HepG2 cells are discussed.