Somatic reprogramming of pteropus bat cells provides new insights in bat antiviral response

Bats are natural reservoirs for a large range of emerging viruses that cause lethal diseases in humans and domestic animals, but remain asymptomatic in bats. Understanding the host-pathogen interactions relies on the availability of relevant models including susceptible cells, derived from viral target tissues. To obtain bat cell types pertinent for the study of viral infection, we applied somatic reprogramming approach to Pteropus primary cells as initial substrates. Using the novel combination of three transcription factors: ESRRB, CDX2 and c-MYC, we generated reprogrammed cells exhibiting stem cells features. Pteropus somatic cells from trachea and two different isolates of reprogrammed cells derived from those primary cells were analysed, each in triplicates.