Modeling human enterovirus A71 infection using an intestinal microphysiological system

Therefore, suppressing viral replication in the intestine is important to prevent severe complications. However, the intestinal pathophysiological changes in EV-A71-infected patients remain poorly understood.

In this study, we aimed to examine the intestinal response to EV-A71 infection using the intestinal microphysiological system (MPS) we previously developed using human pluripotent stem cells and microfluidic devices. The viral RNA was detectable in the cell culture supernatant of the intestinal MPS for 14 days after the viral infection. Despite this, EV-A71 infection did not induce significant morphological changes in the intestinal MPS and alter the expression of epithelial cell markers, suggesting that the virus can infect the intestinal MPS without causing intestinal epithelial damage.