In Vitro Susceptibility of Differentiated SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cells to Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 and Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection

This study aimed to investigate the effects of cell differentiation status and neurotropic viral infectivity on the susceptibility of undifferentiated and differentiated SH-SY5Y cells to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infections. Notably, undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells were susceptible to both HSV-1 and JEV infections. However, differentiated cells exhibiting a phenotypically mature neuron-like morphology and markedly increased neuronal marker levels showed low susceptibility to JEV infection. Overall, these findings suggest that SH-SY5Y cells become more resistant to JEV infection as they mature. This cell culture model is useful to elucidate the molecular mechanisms regulating the maturation state-specific resistance of neurons to JEV.