A common challenge in avian cell biology is the generation of differentiated cell-lines, especially in the keratinocyte lineage. Only a few avian cell-lines are available and very few of them show an interesting differentiation profile. During the last decade, mammalian embryonic stem cell-lines were shown to differentiate into almost all lineages, including keratinocytes. Although chicken embryonic stem cells had been obtained in the 1990s, few differentiation studies toward the ectodermal lineage were reported. Consequently, we explored the differentiation of chicken embryonic stem cells toward the keratinocyte lineage by using a combination of stromal induction, ascorbic acid, BMP4 and chicken serum. During the induction period, we observed a downregulation of pluripotency markers and an upregulation of epidermal markers. Three homogenous cell populations were derived, which were morphologically similar to chicken primary keratinocytes, displaying intracellular lipid droplets in almost every pavimentous cell. These cells could be serially passaged without alteration of their morphology and showed gene and protein expression profiles of epidermal markers similar to chicken primary keratinocytes. These cells represent an alternative to the isolation of chicken primary keratinocytes, being less cumbersome to handle and reducing the number of experimental animals used for the preparation of primary cells.

Puumala virus (PUUV) is the agent of nephropathia epidemica (NE), a mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Europe. NE incidence presents a high spatial variation throughout France, while the geographical distribution of the wild reservoir of PUUV, the bank vole, is rather continuous. A missing piece of the puzzle is the current distribution and the genetic variation of PUUV in France, which has been overlooked until now and remains poorly understood. During a population survey, from 2008 to 2011, bank voles were trapped in eight different forests of France located in areas known to be endemic for NE or in area from where no NE case has been reported until now. Bank voles were tested for immunoglobulin (Ig)G ELISA serology and two seropositive animals for each of three different areas (Ardennes, Jura and Orleans) were then subjected to laboratory analyses in order to sequence the whole S, M and L segments of PUUV. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that French PUUV isolates globally belong to the central European (CE) lineage although isolates from Ardennes are clearly distinct from those in Jura and Orleans, suggesting a different evolutionary history and origin of PUUV introduction in France. Sequence analyses revealed specific amino acid signatures along the N protein, including in PUUV from the Orleans region from where NE in humans has never been reported. The relevance of these mutations in term of pathophysiology is discussed.

Marek’s disease is a virus disease with worldwide distribution that causes major losses to poultry production. Vaccines against Marek’s disease virus, an oncogenic alphaherpesvirus, reduce tumour formation but have no effect on virus shedding. Successful horizontal virus transmission is linked to the active viral replication in feather follicle epithelial cells of infected chickens, from which infectious viral particles are shed into the environment. The feather follicle epithelium is the sole tissue in which those infectious particles are produced and no in vitro cell-systems can support this highly efficient morphogenesis. We previously characterized embryonic stem-cell-derived keratinocytes, showing they display a marker-gene profile similar to skin keratinocytes, and therefore we tested their susceptibility to Marek’s disease virus infection. We show herein that keratinocytes derived from chicken embryonic stem-cells are fully permissive to the replication of either non-pathogenic or pathogenic Marek’s disease viruses. All viruses replicated on all three keratinocyte lines and kinetics of viral production as well as viral loads were similar to those obtained on primary cells. Morphogenesis studies were conducted on infected keratinocytes and on corneocytes, showing that all types of capsids/virions were present inside the cells, but extracellular viruses were absent. The keratinocyte lines are the first epithelial cell-line showing ectodermal specific markers supporting Marek’s disease virus replication. In this in vitro model the replication lead to the production of cell-associated viral progeny. Further work will be devoted to the study of relationship between 3D differentiation of keratinocytes and Marek’s disease virus replication.