Formation of a stable mimic of ambient particulate matter containing viable infectious respiratory syncytial virus and its dry-deposition directly onto cell cultures.

Epidemiological associations of worse respiratory outcomes from combined exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and respiratory viral infection suggest possible interactions between PM and viruses. To characterize outcomes of such exposures, we developed an in vitro mimic of the in vivo event of exposure to PM contaminated with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Concentration of infectious RSV stocks and a particle levitation apparatus were the foundations of the methodology developed to generate specific numbers of PM mimics (PMMimics) of known composition for dry, direct deposition onto airway epithelial cell cultures. Three types of PMMimics were generated for this study: (i) carbon alone (PC), (ii) carbon and infectious RSV (PC+RSV), and (iii) aerosols consisting of RSV (ARSV). PC+RSV were stable in solution and harbored infectious RSV for up to 6 months. Unlike ARSV infection, PC+RSV infection was found to be dynamin dependent and to cause lysosomal rupture. Cells dosed with PMMimics comprised o...