Fig. 5: CCND3 restricts SFTSV replication and pathogenicity in vivo.

C57BL/6J mice (n = 6/group) were transduced with the viral vectors encoding control (shNC) or CCND3-targeting shRNAs via caudal vein. At 7 d post transduction, the animals were infected with SFTSV (10⁵ TCID₅₀) or mock infected with PBS control via intraperitoneal inoculation. Three days postinfection, the mice were sacrificed for following analyses. CCND3 mRNA levels in the indicated tissues were analyzed by qPCR (a). SFTSV RNA levels in the lung, spleen and liver (b) and serum viral copies (c) were analyzed in SFTSV-infected shNC control and CCND3-deficient mice. Platelet (PLT) and white blood cell (WBC) counts of whole blood (d) and serum ALT, AST, and UREA (e) were also determined as described in Methods. Representative H&E staining of liver (f), spleen (g), and lung (h) sections and cumulative pathological score were respectively shown. Noticeable pathological changes in the tissues are indicated by colored arrows. Liver: blue indicates hepatocellular necrosis, nuclear disappearance, karyomegaly, and nuclear fragmentation; black represents changes and necrosis in hepatic sinusoids; yellow indicates infiltration of inflammatory cells in the liver. Spleen: red indicates indistinct boundaries between the red pulp and white pulp; black denotes dispersed splenic nodules with decreased cellularity of lymphocytes. Lungs: red indicates proliferation of alveolar epithelial cells, alveolar atrophy, and thickening of the alveolar septum; green signifies infiltration of inflammatory cells within the lungs. Scale bar, 100 μm. Data are means ± SD, n = 6 mice. Two-tailed Student’s t test (a–c and f–h) and one-way ANOVA (d and e): *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001; ns, non-significant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.