Saffold virus (SAFV), a newly discovered human cardiovirus of the Picornaviridae family, causes widespread infection among children, as shown by previous seroprevalence studies. To determine the host cell range of SAFV and its cytopathogenicity, eight mammalian cell lines that were available in the laboratory were screened for productive SAFV infection by a laboratory-adapted SAFV of genotype 3. Five of the cell lines (Neuro2A, CHO-K1, NIH/3T3, Vero and HEp-2) were found to be permissible. The time required for SAFV to induce complete lysis as a cytopathic effect (CPE) in these permissibly infected cells and the resultant end point virus titer differed for each cell type. HEp-2 exhibited the shortest time frame to reach full CPE compared to the others. All infected cell lines produced a high virus titer at 72 h post-infection. In addition to causing lytic cell death, SAFV also induced apoptotic cell death in host cells through both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways, although the apoptotic events in HEp-2 cells appeared to have been blocked between the early and late stages. In conclusion, laboratory-adapted SAFV is able to productively infect a number of mammalian cell lines and induce apoptosis in the infected host cells. However, apoptosis in HEp-2 cells is blocked before the end stage.
Keywords: Saffold virus; apoptosis; cytopathic effect; permissible cells.