Cell-to-Cell Spread of Dengue Viral RNA in Mosquito Cells

Figure 4

Delivery of viral RNA from donor to recipient cells in the coculture system. The intercellular delivery of viral RNA was investigated in the coculture system containing infected (donor, or D) and uninfected (recipient, or R) cells. During the culture, 40 mM NH₄Cl was used to inhibit the infection of recipient cells by cell-free DENV2 released from donor cells. The results showed that both (+) and (-) viral RNAs were detected from recipient cells even though 40 mM NH₄Cl was applied to the culture, suggesting that cell-to-cell transmission may have occurred in this culture.