Infection Dynamics of Hepatitis E Virus in Wild-Type and Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Knockout J H −/− Gnotobiotic Piglets

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 20 million HEV infections occur annually, resulting in 3.3 million cases of hepatitis E and >44,000 deaths. The lack of an efficient animal model that can mimic the full-spectrum of infection outcomes hinders our ability to delineate the mechanism of HEV pathogenesis. Here, we successfully generated immunoglobulin heavy chain J H −/− knockout gnotobiotic pigs using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, established a novel J H −/− knockout and wild-type gnotobiotic pig model for HEV, and systematically determined the dynamic of acute HEV infection in gnotobiotic pigs. It was demonstrated that knockout of the Ig heavy chain in pigs decreased the level of HEV replication. Infected wild-type and J H −/− knockout gnotobiotic piglets developed more pronounced HEV-specific lesions than other studies using conventional pigs, and the infected J H −/− knockout pigs had significantly enlarged livers. The availability of this novel model will facilitate future studies of HEV pathogenicity.